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Deuteronomy 16-17
Contemporary English Version
Deuteronomy 16-17
Contemporary English Version
Passover
(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.4-8)
Moses said:
16 (A) People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib,[a] because one night in that month years ago, the Lord your God rescued you from Egypt. 2 The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. 3-4 Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt[b] and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt.
For seven days following Passover,[c] don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.
5 Don't offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live. 6 It must be offered at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Kill the sacrifice at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.[d] 7 Then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship, returning to your tents the next morning.
8 Eat thin bread for the next six days. Then on the seventh day, don't do any work. Instead, come together and worship the Lord.
The Harvest Festival
(Exodus 34.22; Leviticus 23.15-21)
Moses said to Israel:
9 (B) Seven weeks after you start your grain harvest, 10-11 go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped and celebrate the Harvest Festival[e] in honor of the Lord your God. Bring him an offering as large as you can afford, depending on how big a harvest he has given you. Be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. 12 Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.
The Festival of Shelters
(Leviticus 23.33-43; Numbers 29.12-38)
Moses said to Israel:
13-15 (C) After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest,[f] take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.
The Lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the Lord your God.
Three Festivals at the Place of Worship
(Exodus 23.14-17)
Moses said:
16 Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. These are the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival,[g] and the Festival of Shelters. And don't forget to take along a gift for the Lord. 17 The bigger the harvest the Lord gives you, the bigger your gift should be.
Treat Everyone with Justice
Moses said to Israel:
18-19 (D) After you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the Lord your God, the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers. Those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions, even if someone important is involved. Don't take bribes to give unfair decisions. Bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars.[h]
20 People of Israel, if you want to enjoy a long and successful life, make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land the Lord is giving you.
Don't Set Up Sacred Poles or Stones
Moses said to Israel:
21 (E) When you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God, don't set up a sacred pole[i] for the worship of the goddess Asherah. 22 (F) And don't set up a sacred stone! The Lord hates these things.
Sacrifices That Have Something Wrong with Them
Moses said to Israel:
17 If an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it, don't offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God—he will be disgusted!
Put To Death People Who Worship Idols
Moses said to Israel:
2-3 (G) The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But later, a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods, or even the sun, moon, or stars.[j] I have warned you not to worship other gods, because whoever worships them is disobeying the Lord and breaking the agreement he made with you. 4 So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty. 5-7 (H) But you will need two or three witnesses—one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty.
Get rid of those who are guilty of such evil. Take them outside your town gates and everyone must stone them to death. But the witnesses must be the first to throw stones.
Difficult Cases
Moses said to Israel:
8-12 It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.
This court will be made up of one judge and several priests[k] who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. 13 When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.
The King
Moses said:
14 (I) People of Israel, after you capture the land the Lord your God is giving you, and after you settle on it, you will say, “We want a king, just like the nations around us.”
15 Go ahead and appoint a king, but make sure that he is an Israelite and that he is the one the Lord has chosen.
16 (J) The king should not have many horses, especially those from Egypt. The Lord has said never to go back there again. 17 (K) And the king must not have a lot of wives—they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the Lord.[l] Finally, the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold.
18 The official copy of God's laws[m] will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch. 19 Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling 20 and not think that he's better than everyone else.
If the king completely obeys the Lord's commands, he and his descendants will rule Israel for many years.
Footnotes
- 16.1 in the month of Abib: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. Passover was celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth of Abib (see Exodus 12.6; Leviticus 23.4,5).
- 16.3,4 the same kind … in Egypt: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 16.3,4 seven days following Passover: This period was called the Festival of Thin Bread (see also verse 16).
- 16.6 sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt: Or “sunset on the same date as when you left Egypt.”
- 16.10,11 Harvest Festival: Traditionally called the “Festival of Weeks,” and known in New Testament times as “Pentecost.”
- 16.13-15 After you … harvest: Leviticus 23.34 gives the exact date as the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which would be early in October.
- 16.16 Harvest Festival: See the note at 16.10,11.
- 16.18,19 turn … liars: Or “keep innocent people from getting justice.”
- 16.21 sacred pole: See the note at 12.3.
- 17.2,3 sun, moon, or stars: Some people thought these were gods and worshiped them.
- 17.8-12 several priests: The Hebrew text has “the priests, the Levites”; priests belonged to the Levi tribe.
- 17.17 a lot of wives … unfaithful to the Lord: A king would often marry the daughter of another king that he was making a treaty with. These foreign women would naturally want to worship their own gods, and would want their husband the king to do so as well.
- 17.18 God's laws: Or “God's laws for the king.”
Deuteronomy 16-17
New International Version
Deuteronomy 16-17
New International Version
The Passover(A)
16 Observe the month of Aviv(B) and celebrate the Passover(C) of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.(D) 3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction,(E) because you left Egypt in haste(F)—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.(G) 4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening(H) of the first day remain until morning.(I)
5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you 6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary[a](J) of your departure from Egypt. 7 Roast(K) it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. 8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly(L) to the Lord your God and do no work.(M)
The Festival of Weeks(N)
9 Count off seven weeks(O) from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.(P) 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. 11 And rejoice(Q) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name(R)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites(S) in your towns, and the foreigners,(T) the fatherless and the widows living among you.(U) 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,(V) and follow carefully these decrees.
The Festival of Tabernacles(W)
13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor(X) and your winepress.(Y) 14 Be joyful(Z) at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy(AA) will be complete.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear(AB) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(AC) the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.(AD) No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:(AE) 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
Judges
18 Appoint judges(AF) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.(AG) 19 Do not pervert justice(AH) or show partiality.(AI) Do not accept a bribe,(AJ) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Worshiping Other Gods
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole(AK) beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,(AL) 22 and do not erect a sacred stone,(AM) for these the Lord your God hates.
17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect(AN) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable(AO) to him.(AP)
2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,(AQ) 3 and contrary to my command(AR) has worshiped other gods,(AS) bowing down to them or to the sun(AT) or the moon or the stars in the sky,(AU) 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true(AV) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,(AW) 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.(AX) 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.(AY) 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,(AZ) and then the hands of all the people.(BA) You must purge the evil(BB) from among you.
Law Courts
8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge(BC)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults(BD)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.(BE) 9 Go to the Levitical(BF) priests and to the judge(BG) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.(BH) 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.(BI) 12 Anyone who shows contempt(BJ) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering(BK) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.(BL) You must purge the evil from Israel.(BM) 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.(BN)
The King
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession(BO) of it and settled in it,(BP) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”(BQ) 15 be sure to appoint(BR) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.(BS) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(BT) for himself(BU) or make the people return to Egypt(BV) to get more of them,(BW) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(BX) 17 He must not take many wives,(BY) or his heart will be led astray.(BZ) He must not accumulate(CA) large amounts of silver and gold.(CB)
18 When he takes the throne(CC) of his kingdom, he is to write(CD) for himself on a scroll a copy(CE) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life(CF) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees(CG) 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law(CH) to the right or to the left.(CI) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.(CJ)
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:6 Or down, at the time of day
Deuteronomy 16-17
King James Version
Deuteronomy 16-17
King James Version
16 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.
3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee:
6 But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and 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 thy God which he hath given thee.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.
17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose;
9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
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