A Skeptics Journey through the Bible

Deuteronomy 16

Summary: God commands the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. 

16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.

16:2 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.

16:3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.

16:4 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 of the first day remain until morning.

16:5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you

16:6 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 of your departure from Egypt.

16:7 Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.

16:8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.

16:9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.

16:10 Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you.

16:11 And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.

16:12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

16:13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

16:14 Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

16:15 For seven days celebrate the Feast 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 will be complete.

16:16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed:

16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

16:18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.

16:19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

16:20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.

16:21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole [b] beside the altar you build to the LORD your God,

16:22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.

Final Thoughts on Chapter 16:

Chapter 16 describes God’s want to have the Israelites celebrate holidays that were set up in his honor. Although the chapter ends in an excellent call to justice when appointing judges in their towns (verses 18-20), there were only a couple of things that stood out: Verse 3 says to eat unleavened bread for seven days, but Deuteronomy 16:8 says to only eat it for six days. In verse 16, God says that all the male Israelites must appear three times a year before God (he doesn’t want to see the females).