Chapter 23

T¹hen the LORD said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. ³For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.

T⁴hese are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. ⁵The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ⁷On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work. ⁸For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”

A⁹nd the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. ¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹²On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD, ¹³along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil — a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma — and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine. ¹⁴You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.

F¹⁵rom the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks. ¹⁶You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. ¹⁷Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD. ¹⁸Along with the bread you are to present seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings — a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁹You shall also prepare one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs a year old as a peace offering. ²⁰The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the LORD, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. ²¹On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.

²²When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am the LORD your God.’”

T²³he LORD also said to Moses, ²⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts. ²⁵You must not do any regular work, but you are to present a food offering to the LORD.’”

A²⁶gain the LORD said to Moses, ²⁷“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD. ²⁸On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. ²⁹If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people. ³⁰I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day. ³¹You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live. ³²It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”

A³³nd the LORD said to Moses, ³⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days. ³⁵On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work. ³⁶For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work. ³⁷These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting food offerings to the LORD — burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day. ³⁸These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, to all your vow offerings, and to all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.

³⁹On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day. ⁴⁰On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. ⁴¹You are to celebrate this as a feast to the LORD for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴²You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths, ⁴³so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”

⁴⁴So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD.