The Religious Festivals

1The Lord gave Moses 2the following regulations for the religious festivals, when the people of Israel are to gather for worship. 3 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live. 4Proclaim the following festivals at the appointed times.

Passover and Unleavened Bread

(Numbers 28.16-25)

5 The Passover, celebrated to honor the Lord, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day the Festival of Unleavened Bread begins, and for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast. 7On the first of these days you shall gather for worship and do none of your daily work. 8Offer your food offerings to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day you shall again gather for worship, but you shall do none of your daily work.

9-10When you come into the land that the Lord is giving you and you harvest your grain, take the first sheaf to the priest. 11He shall present it as a special offering to the Lord, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you present the offering of grain, also sacrifice as a burnt offering a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. 13With it you shall present four pounds of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. You shall also present with it an offering of one quart of wine. 14Do not eat any of the new grain, whether raw, roasted, or baked into bread, until you have brought this offering to God. This regulation is to be observed by all your descendants for all time to come.

The Harvest Festival

(Numbers 28.26-31)

15 Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of grain to present to the Lord. 16On the fiftieth day, the day after the seventh Sabbath, present to the Lord another new offering of grain. 17Each family is to bring two loaves of bread and present them to the Lord as a special gift. Each loaf shall be made of four pounds of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the Lord as an offering of the first grain to be harvested. 18And with the bread the community is to present seven one-year-old lambs, one bull, and two rams, none of which may have any defects. They shall be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord, along with a grain offering and a wine offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the Lord. 19Also offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering. 20The priest shall present the bread with the two lambs as a special gift to the Lord for the priests. These offerings are holy. 21On that day do none of your daily work, but gather for worship. Your descendants are to observe this regulation for all time to come, no matter where they live.

22 When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The Lord is your God.

The New Year Festival

(Numbers 29.1-6)

23-24On the first day of the seventh month observe a special day of rest, and come together for worship when the trumpets sound. 25Present a food offering to the Lord and do none of your daily work.

The Day of Atonement

(Numbers 29.7-11)

26-27 The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when the annual ritual is to be performed to take away the sins of the people. On that day do not eat anything at all; come together for worship, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28Do no work on that day, because it is the day for performing the ritual to take away sin. 29Any who eat anything on that day will no longer be considered God's people. 30And if any do any work on that day, the Lord himself will put them to death. 31This regulation applies to all your descendants, no matter where they live. 32From sunset on the ninth day of the month to sunset on the tenth observe this day as a special day of rest, during which nothing may be eaten.

The Festival of Shelters

(Numbers 29.12-40)

33-34 The Festival of Shelters begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continues for seven days. 35On the first of these days come together for worship and do none of your daily work. 36Each day for seven days you shall present a food offering. On the eighth day come together again for worship and present a food offering. It is a day for worship, and you shall do no work.

( 37These are the religious festivals on which you honor the Lord by gathering together for worship and presenting food offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and wine offerings, as required day by day. 38These festivals are in addition to the regular Sabbaths, and these offerings are in addition to your regular gifts, your offerings as fulfillment of vows, and your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.)

39When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest. 40On that day take some of the best fruit from your trees, take palm branches and limbs from leafy trees, and begin a religious festival to honor the Lord your God. 41Celebrate it for seven days. This regulation is to be kept by your descendants for all time to come. 42All the people of Israel shall live in shelters for seven days, 43so that your descendants may know that the Lord made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the Lord your God.

44So in this way Moses gave the people of Israel the regulations for observing the religious festivals to honor the Lord.