The Fifth Book of Moses, Called Deuteronomy

Chapter 16

The feast of the passover, 1-8, of weeks, 9-12, of tabernacles, 13-15. Every male must offer, as he is able, at these three feasts, 16, 17. Of judges and justice, 18-20. Groves and images are forbidden, 21, 22.

1 "Observe the month Abib, and keep the passover to the LORD your God. For in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you forth from Egypt by night. 2 You shall therefore sacrifice the passover to the LORD your God of the flock and the herd in the place which the LORD chooses to place his name there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, even the bread of affliction, for you came forth from the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day when you came forth from the land of Egypt, all the days of your life. 4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you in all your borders seven days, neither shall there anything of the flesh, which you sacrificed the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you. 6 But at the place which the LORD your God chooses to place his name in, there you shall sacrifice the passover at evening, at the setting of the sun, at the time of your departure from Egypt. 7 And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work.

9 "Seven weeks you shall number to you. Begin to number the seven weeks from the time when you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 And you shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a voluntary-offering of your hand, which you shall give to the LORD your God, according as the LORD your God has blessed you. 11 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your son, your daughter, your man-servant, your woman-servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you—in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there. 12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. And you shall observe and do these statutes.

13 "You shall observe the feast of tabernacles seven days after you have gathered in your grain and your wine. 14 And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your son, your daughter, your man-servant, your woman-servant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall keep a solemn feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God shall bless you in all your increase and in all the works of your hands; therefore, you shall surely rejoice.

16 "Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty. 17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.

18 "You shall make judges and officers for yourself throughout your tribes in all your gates which the LORD your God gives you. And they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19 You shall not wrest judgment. You shall not respect persons, neither take a gift, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 That which is altogether just you shall follow, so that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.

21 "You shall not plant for yourself a grove of any trees near the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself, 22 Neither shall you set yourself up any image, which the LORD your God hates."

Commentary

Matthew Henry Commentary - Deuteronomy, Chapter 16[➚]

Notes

[v.1] - "passover" - Reference, Exodus, ch. 12 for the Passover.

[v.19a] - "You shall not respect persons" - Reference, Proverbs 24:23.

[v.19b] - "gift" - This form of gift is a bribe. Reference, Exodus 23:8; Proverbs 17:23; Ecclesiastes 7:7.

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