DeuteronomyChapter 16

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¹Keep the month of Abib. Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God in that month. Do this because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt at night. ²Offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God from your cattle or your sheep. Offer it at the place the LORD will choose to be the home for his Name. ³Do not eat bread made with yeast along with it. For seven days eat bread made without yeast with it. It is the bread of suffering. Eat it because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry. Then you will remember the day you left the land of Egypt for the rest of your life. ⁴For seven days there must be no yeast anywhere in your land. You will sacrifice meat in the evening of the first day. None of that meat may be left over until morning. ⁵You must not sacrifice the Passover animal in just any of the towns the LORD your God gives you. ⁶Offer the Passover sacrifice only at the place the LORD your God will choose to be the home for his Name. Do it in the evening as the sun goes down. That is the time of day you left Egypt. ⁷Roast the animal and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning go back to your tents. ⁸For six days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the seventh day, hold a special meeting to worship the LORD your God. Do no work that day. ⁹Count seven weeks. Start counting from the day you first cut the standing grain with a sickle. ¹⁰Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God. Bring an offering you choose to give. Give as much as the LORD your God has blessed you. ¹¹And celebrate before the LORD your God at the place he will choose to be the home for his Name. Celebrate with your sons and daughters and your male and female servants. Celebrate with the Levite in your town and with the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. ¹²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Be careful to follow these laws. ¹³Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days. Do it after you have gathered in your crops from your threshing floor and your winepress.a ¹⁴Be joyful at your feast. Celebrate with your sons and daughters and your male and female servants. Celebrate with the Levite and with the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. ¹⁵For seven days, hold a feast to the LORD your God at the place he will choose. Do this because the LORD your God will bless all your crops and all the work you do. So your joy will be full. ¹⁶Three times a year all your men must come before the LORD your God at the place he will choose. They must come at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should come before the LORD with empty hands. ¹⁷Each man must bring a gift as he is able. He should give as much as the LORD your God has blessed you. ¹⁸Choose judges and officials for your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly. ¹⁹Do not twist justice. Do not play favorites. Do not take a bribe. A bribe blinds the eyes of wise people. It twists the words of those who do what is right. ²⁰Go after justice, and only justice. Then you will live, and you will own the land the LORD your God is giving you. ²¹Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you will build for the LORD your God. ²²And do not set up a sacred stone pillar for yourselves. The LORD your God hates these.