Chapter 23

Laws of Religious Festivals

1 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘aThe Lord’s appointed times which you shall bproclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

3 ‘aFor six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

4 ‘These are the aappointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.

5 ‘aIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month 1at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.

6 ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the aFeast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

7 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall anot do any laborious work.

8 ‘But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’ ”

9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and areap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

11 ‘He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 ‘Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord.

13 ‘Its agrain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a 1hin of wine.

14 ‘Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, ayou shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

15 ‘aYou shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.

16 ‘You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a anew grain offering to the Lord.

17 ‘You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an 1ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked awith leaven as first fruits to the Lord.

18 ‘Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

19 ‘You shall also offer aone male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 ‘The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest.

21 ‘On this same day you shall amake a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious bwork. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

22 ‘aWhen you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

23 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

24 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘aIn the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a 1rest, a breminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

25 ‘You shall anot do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord.’ ”

The Day of Atonement

26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

27 “On exactly athe tenth day of this seventh month is bthe day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord.

28 “You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a aday of atonement, bto make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God.

29 “If there is any 1person who will not humble himself on this same day, ahe shall be cut off from his people.

30 “As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

31 “You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

32 “It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”

33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘On athe fifteenth of this seventh month is the bFeast of Booths for seven days to the Lord.

35 ‘On the first day is a holy convocation; you shall do ano laborious work of any kind.

36 ‘aFor seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On bthe eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.

37 ‘These are athe appointed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, beach day’s matter on its own day—

38 besides those of the sabbaths of the Lord, and besides your gifts and besides all your 1votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, awhen you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a 1rest on the first day and a 1rest on the eighth day.

40 ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the 1foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

41 ‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

42 ‘You shall 1live ain booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall 1live in booths,

43 so that ayour generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel athe appointed times of the Lord.