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The Day of Rest and Other Holy Assemblies

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell the Israelites: These are the appointed festivals with the Lord, which you must announce as holy assemblies. You may work for six days. But the seventh day is a day of rest, a day when you don’t work, a holy assembly. Don’t do any work. It is the Lord’s day of rest—a holy day wherever you live.

“The following are the Lord’s appointed festivals with holy assemblies, which you must announce at their appointed times.

The Spring Festivals

“The fourteenth day of the first month, in the evening, is the Lord’s Passover. The fifteenth day of this same month is the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day there will be a holy assembly. Don’t do any regular work. Bring the Lord a sacrifice by fire for seven days. On the seventh day there will be a holy assembly. Don’t do any regular work.”

The Lord spoke to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: When you come to the land I am going to give you and you harvest grain, bring the priest a bundle of the first grain you harvest. 11 He will present it to the Lord so that you will be accepted. He will present it on the day after Passover. 12 On the day you present the bundle, you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Bring a grain offering of four quarts of flour mixed with olive oil with it. This will be a sacrifice by fire made to the Lord, a soothing aroma. Use one quart of wine for the wine offering. 14 Don’t eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this same day, when you bring the offering to your God. It is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live.

15 “Count seven full weeks from the day after Passover (the day you bring the bundle of grain as an offering presented to the Lord) 16 until the day after the seventh week. This is a total of fifty days. Then bring a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 Bring two loaves of bread from your homes to present to the Lord. Bake them with four quarts of flour. They are the first harvested grain for the Lord. 18 With the bread bring seven one-year-old lambs that have no defects, one bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord. With these offerings also bring grain and wine offerings. They will be a sacrifice by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord. 19 Also sacrifice one male goat as an offering for sin and two one-year-old lambs as a fellowship offering. 20 The priest must present them along with the bread of the first harvested grain as an offering to the Lord. All this, along with the two lambs, will be holy and will belong to the Lord’s priests. 21 Make an announcement that there will be a holy assembly on that same day. Don’t do any regular work. It is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live.

22 “When you harvest the grain in your land, don’t harvest the grain in the corners of your fields or gather what is left after you’re finished. Leave it for poor people and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.”

The Fall Festivals

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, 24 “Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month hold a worship festival. It will be a memorial day, a holy assembly announced by the blowing of rams’ horns. 25 Don’t do any regular work. Bring a sacrifice by fire to the Lord.”

26 The Lord spoke to Moses, 27 “In addition, the tenth day of this seventh month is a special day for the payment for sins. There will be a holy assembly. Humble yourselves, and bring the Lord a sacrifice by fire. 28 Don’t do any work that day. It is a special day for the payment for sins. It is a time when you make peace with the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not humble themselves on that day will be excluded from the people. 30 I will kill those who do any work on that day. 31 Don’t do any work. It is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live. 32 It is a day of rest, a day when you don’t work. Humble yourselves starting on the evening of the ninth day of the month. From that evening to the next, observe the day of rest as a holy day.”

33 The Lord spoke to Moses, 34 “Tell the Israelites: The fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Booths to the Lord. It will last seven days. 35 On the first day there will be a holy assembly. Don’t do any regular work. 36 For seven consecutive days bring a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day there will be a holy assembly. Bring the Lord a sacrifice by fire. This is the last festival of the year. Don’t do any regular work.

37 “These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Announce them as holy assemblies for bringing sacrifices by fire to the Lord. Bring burnt offerings, grain offerings, other sacrifices, and wine offerings—each one on its special day. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s holy days of rest, as well as your gifts, all your vows, and your freewill offerings to the Lord.

39 “However, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered what the land produces, celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. The first and the eighth days will be worship festivals. 40 On the first day take the best fruits, palm branches, the branches of leafy trees and poplars, and celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God for seven days. 41 It is the Lord’s festival. Celebrate it for seven days each year. This is a permanent law for generations to come. Celebrate this festival in the seventh month. 42 Live in booths for seven days. Everyone born in Israel must live in booths 43 so that generations to come may learn how I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

44 So Moses told the Israelites about the Lord’s appointed festivals.

Duties in the Tent of Meeting(A)

24 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Command the Israelites to bring you pure, virgin olive oil for the lamp stand so that the lamps won’t go out. In the tent of meeting, outside the canopy where the words of my promise are, Aaron must keep the lamps lit in the Lord’s presence from evening until morning. It is a permanent law for generations to come. Aaron must keep the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand lit in the Lord’s presence.

“Also take flour and bake twelve rings of bread. Each ring will contain four quarts of flour. Put them in two stacks of six each on the gold table in the Lord’s presence. Lay pure incense on top of each stack. The incense on the bread will be a reminder, an offering by fire to the Lord. Every day of rest is a holy day when the ⌞priest⌟ must arrange the bread in the Lord’s presence. It is a continual reminder of my promise [a] to the Israelites. The bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat it in a holy place. It is very holy, set apart from the Lord’s offering by fire. This is a permanent law.”

The Man Who Cursed the Lord’s Name

10 A man, whose mother was Shelomith (daughter of Dibri, from the tribe of Dan in Israel) and whose father was from Egypt, got into a quarrel with an Israelite in the camp. 11 The Israelite woman’s son began cursing the Lord’s name and treating it with contempt. So they brought him to Moses.[b] 12 They kept him in custody until the Lord told them what to do.

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, 14 “The man who cursed ⌞my name⌟ must be taken outside the camp. All who heard him curse ⌞my name⌟ must lay their hands on his head. Then the whole congregation must stone him to death.

15 “Also tell the Israelites: Those who treat their God with contempt will be punished for their sin. 16 But those who curse the Lord’s name must be put to death. The whole congregation must stone them to death. It makes no difference whether they are Israelites or foreigners. Whoever curses the Lord’s name must die.

17 “Whoever kills another person must be put to death. 18 Whoever kills an animal must replace it, life for life. 19 Whoever injures a neighbor must receive the same injury in return— 20 a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whoever injures another person must receive the same injury in return. 21 Whoever kills an animal must replace it. Whoever kills a person must be put to death. 22 The same rule applies to every one of you. It makes no difference whether you are a foreigner or an Israelite, because I am the Lord your God.”

23 Moses spoke to the people of Israel. So the man who had cursed the Lord’s name was taken outside the camp. There they stoned him to death as the Lord commanded Moses. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

  1. 24:8 Or “covenant.”
  2. 24:11 Part of verse 11 (in Hebrew) has been placed in verse 10 to express the complex Hebrew paragraph structure more clearly in English.

The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals,(A) the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.(B)

The Sabbath

“‘There are six days when you may work,(C) but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,(D) a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work;(E) wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread(F)

“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:(G) The Lord’s Passover(H) begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.(I) On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread(J) begins; for seven days(K) you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly(L) and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord.(M) And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you(N) and you reap its harvest,(O) bring to the priest a sheaf(P) of the first grain you harvest.(Q) 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord(R) so it will be accepted(S) on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old(T) without defect,(U) 13 together with its grain offering(V) of two-tenths of an ephah[a](W) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering(X) of a quarter of a hin[b] of wine.(Y) 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain,(Z) until the very day you bring this offering to your God.(AA) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,(AB) wherever you live.(AC)

The Festival of Weeks(AD)

15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,(AE) and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah(AF) of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits(AG) to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings(AH)—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering[c] and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering,(AI) together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly(AJ) and do no regular work.(AK) This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest(AL) of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(AM) Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you.(AN) I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets(AO)

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly(AP) commemorated with trumpet blasts.(AQ) 25 Do no regular work,(AR) but present a food offering to the Lord.(AS)’”

The Day of Atonement(AT)

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month(AU) is the Day of Atonement.(AV) Hold a sacred assembly(AW) and deny yourselves,[d] and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work(AX) on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.(AY) 30 I will destroy from among their people(AZ) anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance(BA) for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest(BB) for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”(BC)

The Festival of Tabernacles(BD)

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh(BE) month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles(BF) begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly;(BG) do no regular work.(BH) 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly(BI) and present a food offering to the Lord.(BJ) It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings(BK) required for each day. 38 These offerings(BL) are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths(BM) and[e] in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings(BN) you give to the Lord.)

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival(BO) to the Lord for seven days;(BP) the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches(BQ) from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees(BR)—and rejoice(BS) before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters(BT) for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know(BU) that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord(BV)

24 The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance(BW) for the generations to come. The lamps on the pure gold lampstand(BX) before the Lord must be tended continually.

“Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread,(BY) using two-tenths of an ephah[f](BZ) for each loaf. Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold(CA) before the Lord. By each stack put some pure incense(CB) as a memorial[g] portion(CC) to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly,(CD) Sabbath after Sabbath,(CE) on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. It belongs to Aaron and his sons,(CF) who are to eat it in the sanctuary area,(CG) because it is a most holy(CH) part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name(CI) with a curse;(CJ) so they brought him to Moses.(CK) (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)(CL) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.(CM)

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.(CN) 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God(CO) will be held responsible;(CP) 16 anyone who blasphemes(CQ) the name of the Lord is to be put to death.(CR) The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.(CS) 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution(CT)—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.(CU) The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution,(CV) but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.(CW) 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner(CX) and the native-born.(CY) I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him.(CZ) The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 23:13 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms; also in verse 17
  2. Leviticus 23:13 That is, about 1 quart or about 1 liter
  3. Leviticus 23:19 Or purification offering
  4. Leviticus 23:27 Or and fast; similarly in verses 29 and 32
  5. Leviticus 23:38 Or These festivals are in addition to the Lord’s Sabbaths, and these offerings are
  6. Leviticus 24:5 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms
  7. Leviticus 24:7 Or representative