Leviticus 23

The Feasts

1-2 Godspoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts ofGodwhich you are to decree as sacred assemblies.

3 “Work six days. The seventh day is a Sabbath, a day of total and complete rest, a sacred assembly. Don’t do any work. Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath toGod.

4 “These are the appointed feasts ofGod, the sacred assemblies which you are to announce at the times set for them:

5 “God’s Passover, beginning at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.

6-8 “God’s Feast of Unraised Bread, on the fifteenth day of this same month. You are to eat unraised bread for seven days. Hold a sacred assembly on the first day; don’t do any regular work. Offer Fire-Gifts toGodfor seven days. On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly; don’t do any regular work.”

9-14 Godspoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, When you arrive at the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain that you harvest. He will wave the sheaf beforeGodfor acceptance on your behalf; on the morning after Sabbath, the priest will wave it. On the same day that you wave the sheaf, offer a year-old male lamb without defect for a Whole-Burnt-Offering toGodand with it the Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil—a Fire-Gift toGod, a pleasing fragrance—and also a Drink-Offering of a quart of wine. Don’t eat any bread or roasted or fresh grain until you have presented this offering to your God. This is a perpetual decree for all your generations to come, wherever you live.

15-21 “Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath when you brought the sheaf as a Wave-Offering, fifty days until the morning of the seventh Sabbath. Then present a new Grain-Offering toGod. Bring from wherever you are living two loaves of bread made from four quarts of fine flour and baked with yeast as a Wave-Offering of the first ripe grain toGod. In addition to the bread, offer seven yearling male lambs without defect, plus one bull and two rams. They will be a Whole-Burnt-Offering toGodtogether with their Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings—offered as Fire-Gifts, a pleasing fragrance toGod. Offer one male goat for an Absolution-Offering and two yearling lambs for a Peace-Offering. The priest will wave the two lambs beforeGodas a Wave-Offering, together with the bread of the first ripe grain. They are sacred offerings toGodfor the priest. Proclaim the day as a sacred assembly. Don’t do any ordinary work. It is a perpetual decree wherever you live down through your generations.

22 “When you reap the harvest of your land, don’t reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners. I amGod,yourGod.”

23-25 Godsaid to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, On the first day of the seventh month, set aside a day of rest, a sacred assembly—mark it with loud blasts on the ram’s horn. Don’t do any ordinary work. Offer a Fire-Gift toGod.”

26-32 Godsaid to Moses: “The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly, fast, and offer a Fire-Gift toGod. Don’t work on that day because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for you before yourGod. Anyone who doesn’t fast on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who works on that day. Don’t do any work that day—none. This is a perpetual decree for all the generations to come, wherever you happen to be living. It is a Sabbath of complete and total rest, a fast day. Observe your Sabbath from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

33-36 Godsaid to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel,God’s Feast of Booths begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It lasts seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; don’t do any ordinary work. Offer Fire-Gifts toGodfor seven days. On the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and offer a gift toGod. It is a solemn convocation. Don’t do any ordinary work.

37-38 “These are the appointed feasts ofGodwhich you will decree as sacred assemblies for presenting Fire-Gifts toGod: the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, sacrifices, and Drink-Offerings assigned to each day. These are in addition to offerings forGod’s Sabbaths and also in addition to other gifts connected with whatever you have vowed and all the Freewill-Offerings you give toGod.

39-43 “So, summing up: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have brought your crops in from your fields, celebrate the Feast ofGodfor seven days. The first day is a complete rest and the eighth day is a complete rest. On the first day, pick the best fruit from the best trees; take fronds of palm trees and branches of leafy trees and from willows by the brook and celebrate in the presence of yourGodfor seven days—yes, for seven full days celebrate it as a festival toGod. Every year from now on, celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days—every son and daughter of Israel is to move into booths so that your descendants will know that I made the People of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I amGod,yourGod.”

44 Moses posted the calendar for the annual appointed feasts ofGodwhich Israel was to celebrate.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/LEV/23-f5664f6c7d38c25a1c0e77cb94e61f44.mp3?version_id=97—

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