Deuteronomy 16

Keep the Passover

1“Keep the month of Abib and make the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out from Egypt by night. 2You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from flock and herd in the place that the LORD will choose to make his name dwell there. 3You shall not eat leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction, for in haste you came out from the land of Egypt, so that you may remember the day of your coming out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, and none of the flesh that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates that the LORD your God is giving you. 6Rather, at the place that the LORD your God will choose to make his name dwell there, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the appointed time of your coming out from Egypt. 7You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work.

The Festival of Weeks

9“You shall count seven weeks for yourself. From the time the sickle first begins to cut the standing grain, you shall begin to count seven weeks. 10Then you shall make the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God with the measure of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give according to how the LORD your God blesses you. 11You shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, and the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow who are in your midst—at the place that the LORD your God will choose to make his name dwell there. 12You shall remember that you were a servant in Egypt, and you shall keep and do these statutes.

The Festival of Booths

13“You shall make the Festival of Booths for yourself seven days, when you gather in from your threshing floor and your winepress. 14You shall rejoice in your festival—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow who are within your gates. 15Seven days you shall celebrate to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, for the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.

Three Times a Year

16“Three times in the year every male among you shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths. No one shall appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17Each shall give according to the gift of his hand, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.

Appoint Judges and Officers

18“You shall appoint judges and officers for yourself within all your gates that the LORD your God is giving you according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19You shall not distort justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you may live and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

No Asherah beside the LORD’s Altar

21“You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God that you make for yourself. 22And you shall not set up for yourself a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.