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Chapter 28

General Sacrifices. The Lord said to Moses: Give the Israelites this commandment: At their prescribed times, you will be careful to present to me the food offerings that are due me, oblations of pleasing aroma to me.

Each Morning and Evening. (A)You will tell them therefore: This is the oblation which you will offer to the Lord: two unblemished yearling lambs each day as the regular burnt offering,[a] offering one lamb in the morning and the other during the evening twilight, each with a grain offering of one tenth of an ephah of bran flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil of crushed olives.[b] This is the regular burnt offering that was made at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma, an oblation to the Lord. And as the libation for the first lamb, you will make a libation to the Lord in the sanctuary[c] of a fourth of a hin of strong drink. The other lamb you will offer during the evening twilight, making the same grain offering and the same libation as in the morning, as an oblation of pleasing aroma to the Lord.

On the Sabbath. On the sabbath day: two unblemished yearling lambs, with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of bran flour mixed with oil, and its libation. 10 This is the sabbath burnt offering each sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.

At the New Moon Feast. 11 On your new moons[d] you will offer as a burnt offering to the Lord two bulls of the herd, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs, 12 with three tenths of an ephah of bran flour mixed with oil as the grain offering for each bull, two tenths of an ephah of bran flour mixed with oil as the grain offering for the ram, 13 and one tenth of an ephah of bran flour mixed with oil as the grain offering for each lamb, a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, an oblation to the Lord. 14 Their libations will consist of a half a hin of wine for each bull, a third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for the new moon, for every new moon through the months of the year. 15 Moreover, there will be one goat for a purification offering to the Lord; it will be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its libation.

At the Passover. 16 The fourteenth day[e] of the first month is the Passover of the Lord,(B) 17 and the fifteenth day of this month is the pilgrimage feast. For seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten. 18 On the first day you will declare a holy day, and you shall do no heavy work.[f](C) 19 You will offer an oblation, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished. 20 Their grain offerings will be of bran flour mixed with oil; you will offer three tenths of an ephah for each bull and two tenths for the ram. 21 You will offer one tenth for each of the seven lambs; 22 and one goat as a purification offering to make atonement for yourselves. 23 These offerings you will make in addition to the morning burnt offering which is part of the regular burnt offering. 24 You will make exactly the same offerings each day for seven days as food offerings, oblations of pleasing aroma to the Lord; they will be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering with its libation. 25 On the seventh day you will declare a holy day: you shall do no heavy work.(D)

At Pentecost. 26 On the day of first fruits,[g] on your feast of Weeks,(E) when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain, you will declare a holy day: you shall do no heavy work. 27 You will offer burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: two bulls of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished. 28 Their grain offerings will be of bran flour mixed with oil: three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for the ram, 29 and one tenth for each of the seven lambs. 30 One goat will be for a purification offering to make atonement for yourselves. 31 You will make these offerings, together with their libations, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering.

Chapter 29

On New Year’s Day. In the seventh month on the first day[h] you will declare a holy day, and do no heavy work; it shall be a day on which you sound the trumpet.(F) You will offer a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull of the herd, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs. Their grain offerings will be of bran flour mixed with oil: three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs. One goat will be a purification offering to make atonement for yourselves. These are in addition to the burnt offering for the new moon with its grain offering, and in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, together with the libations prescribed for them, for a pleasing aroma, an oblation to the Lord.

On the Day of Atonement. On the tenth day of this seventh month[i] you will declare a holy day, humble yourselves, and do no sort of work.(G) You will offer a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma: one bull of the herd, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished. Their grain offerings of bran flour mixed with oil: three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, 10 and one tenth for each of the seven lambs. 11 One goat will be a purification offering. These are in addition to the purification offering for purging,[j] the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their libations.

On the Feast of Booths. 12 [k]On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you will declare a holy day:(H) you shall do no heavy work. For the following seven days you will celebrate a pilgrimage feast to the Lord. 13 You will offer a burnt offering, an oblation of pleasing aroma to the Lord: thirteen bulls[l] of the herd, two rams, and fourteen yearling lambs that are unblemished. 14 Their grain offerings will be of bran flour mixed with oil: three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, 15 and one tenth for each of the fourteen lambs. 16 One goat will be a purification offering. These are in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and libation.

17 On the second day: twelve bulls of the herd, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 18 with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 19 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and libation.

20 On the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 21 with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 22 as well as one goat for a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and libation.

23 On the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 24 the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 25 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and libation.

26 On the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 27 (I)with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 28 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and libation.

29 On the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 30 with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 31 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and libation.

32 On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs, 33 with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 34 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and libation.

35 On the eighth day(J) you will hold a public assembly:[m] you shall do no heavy work. 36 You will offer a burnt offering, an oblation of pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs, 37 with the grain offerings and libations for the bulls, rams and lambs in their prescribed number, 38 as well as one goat as a purification offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and libation.

39 These are the offerings you will make to the Lord on your festivals, besides your votive or voluntary offerings of burnt offerings, grain offerings, libations, and communion offerings.

Footnotes

  1. 28:3 The regular burnt offering: “the tamid burnt offering,” the technical term for the daily sacrifice. The lambs—as well as the goats for the purification offering (vv. 15, 22, 30)—are all specified as males.
  2. 28:5 Oil of crushed olives: this oil, probably made in a mortar, was purer and more expensive than oil extracted in the olive press.
  3. 28:7 In the sanctuary: i.e., the tent of meeting. But according to Sir 50:15, the libation was poured at the base of the outer altar.
  4. 28:11 On your new moons: beginning on the evening when the crescent of the new moon first appeared. The beginning of the month is reckoned according to the new moon.
  5. 28:16 The fourteenth day: toward evening at the end of this day; cf. Ex 12:6, 18.
  6. 28:18 Heavy work: apparently, some sorts of activity are permitted on a day such as this, whereas “any work” is prohibited by 29:7 on the Day of Atonement. See note on Lv 23:3.
  7. 28:26 The day of first fruits: a unique term for this feast, which is usually called “the feast of Weeks”; it was celebrated as a thanksgiving for the wheat harvest seven weeks after the barley harvest (Passover). In the time of Jesus it was commonly known by the Greek word “Pentecost,” that is, “fiftieth” (day after the Passover); see note on Lv 23:16–21.
  8. 29:1 In the seventh month on the first day: (about September–October) now the Jewish New Year’s Day. In the older calendar the year began with the first of Nisan (March–April), which is still known as the first month; cf. Ex 12:2.
  9. 29:7 The tenth day of this seventh month: the Day of Atonement. Humble yourselves: that is, with fasting.
  10. 29:11 The purification offering for purging: the bull prescribed in Lv 16:11–12 for the purging of the tent sanctuary.
  11. 29:12 This feast of Booths (Tabernacles or Sukkot) celebrating the vintage harvest was the most popular of all and therefore had the most elaborate ritual. See note on Lv 23:34.
  12. 29:13 Thirteen bulls: the number of bulls sacrificed before the octave day was seventy, arranged on a descending scale so that the number on the seventh day was the sacred number seven.
  13. 29:35 A public assembly: the Hebrew word is the technical term for the closing celebration of the three major feasts of the Passover, Pentecost and Booths, or of other special feasts that lasted for a week. Cf. Lv 23:36; Dt 16:8; 2 Chr 7:9; Neh 8:18.

Chapter 16

Feast of the Passover. Observe the month of Abib[a] by keeping the Passover of the Lord, your God,(A) since it was in the month of Abib that the Lord, your God, brought you out of Egypt by night. You shall offer the Passover sacrifice from your flock and your herd to the Lord, your God, in the place the Lord will choose as the dwelling place of his name.(B) (C)You shall not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you shall eat with it only unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, so that you may remember as long as you live the day you left the land of Egypt; for in hurried flight you left the land of Egypt. No leaven is to be found with you in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat which you sacrificed on the evening of the first day shall be kept overnight for the next day.

You may not sacrifice the Passover in any of the communities which the Lord, your God, gives you; only at the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place of his name, and in the evening at sunset, at the very time when you left Egypt, shall you sacrifice the Passover.(D) You shall cook and eat it at the place the Lord, your God, will choose; then in the morning you may return to your tents. For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord, your God; on that day you shall do no work.(E)

Feast of Weeks. (F)You shall count off seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the day when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 You shall then keep the feast of Weeks[b] for the Lord, your God, and the measure of your own voluntary offering which you will give shall be in proportion to the blessing the Lord, your God, has given you. 11 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow among you, in the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place of his name.(G) 12 Remember that you too were slaves in Egypt, so carry out these statutes carefully.

Feast of Booths. 13 (H)You shall celebrate the feast of Booths[c] for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press. 14 You shall rejoice at your feast,(I) together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and also the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow within your gates. 15 For seven days you shall celebrate this feast for the Lord, your God, in the place which the Lord will choose; since the Lord, your God, has blessed you in all your crops and in all your undertakings, you will be full of joy.

16 Three times a year,(J) then, all your males shall appear before the Lord, your God, in the place which he will choose: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed, 17 but each with his own gift, in proportion to the blessing which the Lord, your God, has given to you.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:1 Abib: “ear of grain, ripe grain,” the name of the month in which the barley harvest fell, corresponding to our March and April; at a later period this month received the Babylonian name of “Nisan.”
  2. 16:10 Feast of Weeks: a celebration of the grain harvest, later known as “Pentecost”; cf. Acts 2:1.
  3. 16:13 Feast of Booths: also called Tabernacles; a harvest festival at the end of the agricultural year. In later times, during the seven days of the feast the Israelites camped in booths made of branches erected on the roofs of their houses or in the streets in commemoration of their wanderings in the wilderness, where they dwelt in such temporary shelters.