Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.^(A)

The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread

³ “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a Sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.^(B)

⁴ “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, that you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.^{(C) 5} In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,^[a] there shall be a Passover offering to the Lord,^{(D) 6} and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ⁷ On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.^{(E) 8} For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[b] on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.”

The Offering of First Fruits

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.^{(F) 11} He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall raise it. ¹² On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire^[c] of pleasing odor to the Lord, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.^{(G) 14} You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.

The Festival of Weeks

¹⁵ “And from the day after the Sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count seven full weeks.^{(H) 16} You shall count until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord.^{(I) 17} You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.^{(J) 18} You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire^[d] of pleasing odor to the Lord. ¹⁹ You shall also offer one male goat for a purification offering and two lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being.^{(K) 20} The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.^(L)

²² “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.”^(M)

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the Israelites, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts.^{(N) 25} You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.”^[e]

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall humble yourselves^[f] and present the Lord’s offering by fire,^{[g](O) 28} and you shall do no work during that entire day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For those who do not humble themselves^[h] during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.^{(P) 30} And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people.^{(Q) 31} You shall do no work. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. ³² It shall be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves;^[i] on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”

The Festival of Booths

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the Israelites, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and lasting seven days, there shall be the Festival of Booths^[j] to the Lord.^{(R) 35} The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. ³⁶ Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[k] on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire;^[l] it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.^(S)

³⁷ “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire^[m]—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day^(T)— ³⁸ apart from the Sabbaths of the Lord and apart from your gifts and apart from all your votive offerings and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ “Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days, a complete rest on the first day and a complete rest on the eighth day.^{(U) 40} On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic^[n] trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.^{(V) 41} You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord lasting seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴² You shall live in booths for seven days; all who are native-born in Israel shall live in booths,^{(W) 43} so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ Thus Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.^(X)

⁶⁴ The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of well-being.^(A)

³ The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed festivals, as it is written in the law of the Lord.^(A)

²⁷ When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, and I will accept you, says the Lord God.”^(A)

⁴ The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish,^{(A) 5} and the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.^{(B) 6} On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull of the herd without blemish and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish;^{(C) 7} as a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram and with the lambs as much as he wishes, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.^{(D) 8} When the prince enters, he shall come in by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.^(E)

⁹ “When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: they shall not return by way of the gate by which they entered but shall go out straight ahead.^{(F) 10} When they come in, the prince shall come in with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

¹¹ “At the festivals and the appointed seasons the grain offering with a bull shall be an ephah and with a ram an ephah and with the lambs as much as one wishes to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah.^{(G) 12} When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or offerings of well-being as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering or his offerings of well-being as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be closed.^(H)