Deuteronomy 16

Celebrate Passover Right

1 Make sure you recognize the month of Abib, because that is when the Lord your God brought you outta Egypt at night.

2 You must sacrifice the Passover offering to the Lord, it could be a cow or sheep, at the place He tells you all to meet up.

3 Do not eat it with bread that got yeast. For seven days, eat flatbread, the bread of struggle, because you left Egypt in a hurry. Do this so you never forget how God brought you out.

4 Do not let any yeast be found anywhere in your land for seven days. And do not let any meat from the Passover stay overnight till morning.

5 You cannot just do the Passover anywhere you want.

6 You must do it at the spot the Lord picks. At sunset, the time you dipped outta Egypt, that is when you handle it.

7 Roast the meat and eat it where God tells you, then in the morning, pack up and head back home.

8 For six days, eat flatbread. On the seventh day, gather together and chill, no work.

Celebrate the Festival of Weeks (Pentecost)

9 Count seven weeks from when you first start cutting your grain in the field.

10 Then have a big celebration, the Festival of Weeks, and bring a freewill offering to God, giving according to how He blessed you.

11 Throw a party in God’s presence, you, your kids, your servants, the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. Do it at the place God chose.

12 Do not forget, you used to be slaves in Egypt. That is why you must follow these instructions.

Celebrate the Festival of Shelters (Booths)

13 Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days after you finish gathering the harvest from your threshing floor and winepress.

14 Celebrate with everybody, your fam, your workers, Levites, immigrants, orphans, and widows.

15 Do this for seven days at the place God chooses. God is going to bless your crops and all your hustle, so enjoy it!

Three Times a Year, Show Up for God

16 Three times a year, all the men must show up at the spot God picks, for Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Shelters. And do not come empty-handed.

17 Bring something based on how God has blessed you. Everybody should give.

Set Up Fair Judges

18 In every town the Lord gives you, set up judges and officers for your tribes. They must judge the people right.

19 Do not twist justice. Do not play favorites. Do not take bribes. Bribes blind the eyes of the wise and mess up the words of the honest.

20 Chase after justice, only justice, so you can live and inherit the land God is giving you.

No Idols, No Asherah Poles, No Fake Worship

21 Do not plant any Asherah pole next to the altar you built for the Lord.

22 And do not set up any stone pillar or idol, God hates that mess.