The feasts of the Lord, 1, 2. The sabbath, 3. The passover, 4-8. The sheaf of first-fruits, 9-14. The feast of Pentecost, 15-21. Gleanings to be left for the poor, 22. The feast of trumpets, 23-25. The day of atonement, 26-32. The feast of tabernacles, 33-44.
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'Concerning the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3 'Six days work shall be done, but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the LORD'S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation, you shall do no servile work on it.'"
9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I give to you and reap the harvest thereof, you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on the day when you wave the sheaf a male lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt-offering to the LORD. 13 And the food-offering thereof shall be two tenth-parts of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a sweet savor. And the drink-offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14 And you shall eat neither bread, parched grain, nor green ears until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the next day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven complete sabbaths. 16 Even to the next day after the seventh sabbath you shall number fifty days, and you shall offer a new food-offering to the LORD. 17 You shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth-parts. They shall be of fine flour and they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first-fruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bull and two rams. They shall be for a burnt-offering to the LORD, with their food-offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, a sweet savor to the LORD. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin-offering and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace-offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits for a wave-offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 'And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not make clean riddance of the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest. You shall leave them to the poor and to the stranger. I am the LORD your God.'"
23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no servile work on it, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27 "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict your souls and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is a day of atonement to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whatever soul it may be who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatever soul it may be who does any work on that same day, the same soul I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth day of the month at evening. From evening to evening you shall celebrate your sabbath."
33 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work on it. 36 Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day there shall be a holy convocation to you and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly and you shall do no servile work on it.
37 'These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt-offering, a food-offering, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, everything upon its day, 38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, beside your gifts, beside all your vows, and beside all your voluntary-offerings which you give to the LORD.
39 'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days. On the first day there shall be a sabbath and on the eighth day there shall be a sabbath. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the boughs of beautiful trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 And you shall keep it a feast to the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are natives of Israel shall dwell in booths, 43 So that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" 44 And Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Leviticus, Chapter 23[➚]