Leviticus 23:1-44, NLT

Leviticus 23

The Appointed Festivals

1The Lord said to Moses,

2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

3“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

4“In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

5“The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.*23:5 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March, April, or early May.

6On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. 7On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. 8For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”

Celebration of First Harvest

9Then the Lord said to Moses,

10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. 11On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. 12On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts*23:13a Hebrew ²/10 of an ephah [4.4 liters]; also in 23:17. of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart*23:13b Hebrew ¹/4 of a hin [1 liter]. of wine as a liquid offering. 14Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

The Festival of Harvest

15“From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks.

16Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of your crops. 18Along with the bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering.

20“The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests.

21That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.*23:21 This celebration, called the Festival of Harvest or the Festival of Weeks, was later called the Festival of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1). It is celebrated today as Shavuot (or Shabuoth).

22“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Festival of Trumpets

23The Lord said to Moses,

24“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn,*23:24 Hebrew On the first day of the seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. This festival is celebrated today as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. 25You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

26Then the Lord said to Moses,

27“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.*23:27a Hebrew on the tenth day of the seventh month; see 23:24 and the note there. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. It is celebrated today as Yom Kippur. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves*23:27b Or to fast; similarly in 23:29, 32. and present special gifts to the Lord. 28Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with*23:28 Or when atonement is made for you before. the Lord your God. 29All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. 30And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. 31You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. 32This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The Festival of Shelters

33And the Lord said to Moses,

34“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters*23:34a Or Festival of Booths, or Festival of Tabernacles. This was earlier called the Festival of the Final Harvest or Festival of Ingathering (see Exod 23:16b). It is celebrated today as Sukkot (or Succoth). on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement.*23:34b Hebrew on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; see 23:27a and the note there. This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. 35On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. 36For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.

37(“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day.

38These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.)

39“Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,*23:39 Hebrew on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest.

40On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees*23:40 Or gather fruit from majestic trees.—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. 41You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month*23:41 Hebrew the seventh month. from generation to generation. 42For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. 43This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

44So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.