Leviticus 23

Special Holidays

1 The Lord said to Moses,2 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘You will announce the Lord’s appointed feasts as holy meetings. These are my special feasts.

The Sabbath

3 

“ ‘There are six days for you to work, but the seventh day will be a special day of rest. It is a day for a holy meeting; you must not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your homes.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

4 

“ ‘These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the holy meetings, which you will announce at the times set for them.5 The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month, beginning at twilight.6 The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the same month. You will eat bread made without yeast for seven days.7 On the first day of this feast you will have a holy meeting, and you must not do any work.8 For seven days you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. There will be a holy meeting on the seventh day, and on that day you must not do any regular work.’ ”

The First of the Harvest

9 

The Lord said to Moses,10 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘You will enter the land I will give you and gather its harvest. At that time you must bring the first bundle of grain from your harvest to the priest.11 The priest will present the bundle before the Lord, and it will be accepted for you; he will present the bundle on the day after the Sabbath.12 “ ‘On the day when you present the bundle of grain, offer a male lamb, one year old, that has nothing wrong with it, as a burnt offering to the Lord.13 You must also offer a grain offering—four quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil as an offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell will be pleasing to him. You must also offer a quart of wine as a drink offering.14 Until the day you bring your offering to your God, do not eat any new grain, roasted grain, or bread made from new grain. This law will always continue for people from now on, wherever you live.

The Feast of Weeks

15 “ ‘Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath. (This is the Sabbath that you bring the bundle of grain to present as an offering.)16 On the fiftieth day, the first day after the seventh week, you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord.17 On that day bring two loaves of bread from your homes to be presented as an offering. Use yeast and four quarts of flour to make those loaves of bread; they will be your gift to the Lord from the first wheat of your harvest.18 “ ‘Offer with the bread one young bull, two male sheep, and seven male lambs that are one year old and have nothing wrong with them. Offer them with their grain offerings and drink offerings, as a burnt offering to the Lord. They will be an offering made by fire, and the smell will be pleasing to the Lord.19 You must also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male, one-year-old lambs as a fellowship offering.

20 
“ ‘The priest will present the two lambs as an offering before the Lord, along with the bread from the first wheat of the harvest. They are holy to the Lord, and they will belong to the priest.21 On that same day you will call a holy meeting; you must not do any work that day. This law will continue for you from now on, wherever you live.

22 
“ ‘When you harvest your crops on your land, do not harvest all the way to the corners of your field. If grain falls onto the ground, don’t gather it up. Leave it for poor people and foreigners in your country. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

The Feast of Trumpets

23 

Again the Lord said to Moses,24 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you must have a special day of rest, a holy meeting, when you blow the trumpet for a special time of remembering.25 Do not do any work, and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

The Day of Cleansing

26 

The Lord said to Moses,27 “The Day of Cleansing will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting, and you will deny yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord.28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Cleansing. On that day the priests will go before the Lord and perform the acts to make you clean from sin so you will belong to the Lord.

29 
“Anyone who refuses to give up food on this day must be cut off from the people.30 If anyone works on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people.31 You must not do any work at all; this law will continue for people from now on wherever you live.32 It will be a special day of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. You will start this special day of rest on the evening after the ninth day of the month, and it will continue from that evening until the next evening.”

The Feast of Shelters

33 

Again the Lord said to Moses,34 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Shelters. This feast to the Lord will continue for seven days.35 There will be a holy meeting on the first day; do not do any work.36 You will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord each day for seven days. On the eighth day you will have another holy meeting, and you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. This will be a holy meeting; do not do any work.

37 
(“ ‘These are the Lord’s special feasts, when there will be holy meetings and when you bring offerings made by fire to the Lord. You will bring whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings—each at the right time.38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbath days, in addition to offerings you give as payment for special promises, and in addition to special offerings you want to give to the Lord.)

39 
“ ‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered in the crops of the land, celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. You must rest on the first day and the eighth day.40 On the first day you will take good fruit from the fruit trees, as well as branches from palm trees, poplars, and other leafy trees. You will celebrate before the Lord your God for seven days.41 Celebrate this festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This law will continue from now on; you will celebrate it in the seventh month.42 Live in shelters for seven days. All the people born in Israel must live in shelters43 so that all your descendants will know I made Israel live in shelters during the time I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

44 
So Moses told the people of Israel about all of the Lord’s appointed feast days.

Leviticus 24

The Lampstand and the Holy Bread

1 The Lord said to Moses,2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from crushed olives. That oil is for the lamps so that these lamps may never go out.3 Aaron will keep the lamps burning in the Meeting Tent from evening until morning before the Lord; this is in front of the curtain of the Ark of the Agreement. This law will continue from now on.4 Aaron must always keep the lamps burning on the lampstands of pure gold before the Lord.

5 
“Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread with it, using four quarts of flour for each loaf.6 Put them in two rows on the golden table before the Lord, six loaves in each row.7 Put pure incense on each row as the memorial portion to take the place of the bread. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.8 Every Sabbath day Aaron will put the bread in order before the Lord, as an agreement with the people of Israel that will continue forever.9 That bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. That bread is their share forever.”

The Man Who Cursed God

10 Now there was a son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian father who was walking among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite.11 The son of the Israelite woman began cursing and speaking against the Lord, so the people took him to Moses. (The mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the family of Dan.)12 The people held him as a prisoner while they waited for the Lord’s command to be made clear to them.13 Then the Lord said to Moses,14 “Take the one who spoke against me outside the camp. Then all the people who heard him must put their hands on his head, and all the people must throw stones at him and kill him.15 Tell the people of Israel this: ‘If anyone curses his God, he is guilty of sin.16 Anyone who speaks against the Lord must be put to death; all the people must kill him by throwing stones at him. Foreigners must be punished just like the people born in Israel; if they speak against the Lord, they must be put to death.17 “ ‘Whoever kills another person must be put to death.18 Whoever kills an animal that belongs to another person must give that person another animal to take its place.19 And whoever causes an injury to a neighbor must receive the same kind of injury in return:20 Broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Anyone who injures another person must be injured in the same way in return.21 Whoever kills another person’s animal must give that person another animal to take its place. But whoever kills another person must be put to death.

22 
“ ‘The law will be the same for the foreigner as for those from your own country. I am the Lord your God.’ ”

23 
Then Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they took the person who had cursed outside the camp and killed him by throwing stones at him. So the people of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Leviticus 25

The Time of Rest for the Land

1 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai,2 “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘When you enter the land I will give you, let it have a special time of rest, to honor the Lord.3 You may plant seed in your field for six years, and you may trim your vineyards for six years and bring in their fruits.4 But during the seventh year, you must let the land rest. This will be a special time to honor the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or trim your vineyards.5 You must not cut the crops that grow by themselves after harvest, or gather the grapes from your vines that are not trimmed. The land will have a year of rest.

6 
“ ‘You may eat whatever the land produces during that year of rest. It will be food for your men and women servants, for your hired workers, and for the foreigners living in your country.7 It will also be food for your cattle and the wild animals of your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

The Year of Jubilee

8 

“ ‘Count off seven groups of seven years, or forty-nine years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land.9 On the Day of Cleansing, you must blow the horn of a male sheep; this will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the horn through the whole country.10 Make the fiftieth year a special year, and announce freedom for all the people living in your country. This time will be called Jubilee. You will each go back to your own property, each to your own family and family group.11 The fiftieth year will be a special time for you to celebrate. Don’t plant seeds, or harvest the crops that grow by themselves, or gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed.12 That year is Jubilee; it will be a holy time for you. You may eat only the crops that come from the field.13 In the year of Jubilee you each must go back to your own property.14 “ ‘If you sell your land to your neighbor, or if you buy land from your neighbor, don’t cheat each other.15 If you want to buy your neighbor’s land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. If your neighbor sells the land to you, count the number of years left for harvesting crops, and use that number to decide the right price.16 If there are many years, the price will be high. But if there are only a few years, lower the price, because your neighbor is really selling only a few crops to you.17 You must not cheat each other, but you must respect your God. I am the Lord your God.18 “ ‘Remember my laws and rules, and obey them so that you will live safely in the land.19 The land will give good crops to you, and you will eat as much as you want and live safely in the land.

20 
“ ‘But you might ask, “If we don’t plant seeds or gather crops, what will we eat the seventh year?”21 I will send you such a great blessing during the sixth year that the land will produce enough crops for three years.22 When you plant in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the old crop; you will eat the old crop until the harvest of the ninth year.

Property Laws

23 

“ ‘The land really belongs to me, so you can’t sell it for all time. You are only foreigners and travelers living for a while on my land.24 People might sell their land, but it must always be possible for the family to get its land back.25 If a person in your country becomes very poor and sells some land, then close relatives must come and buy it back.26 If there is not a close relative to buy the land back, but if the person makes enough money to be able to buy it back,27 the years must be counted since the land was sold. That number must be used to decide how much the first owner should pay back the one who bought it. Then the land will belong to the first owner again.28 But if there is not enough money to buy it back, the one who bought it will keep it until the year of Jubilee. During that celebration, the land will go back to the first owner’s family.

29 
“ ‘If someone sells a home in a walled city, for a full year after it is sold, the person has the right to buy it back.30 But if the owner does not buy back the house before a full year is over, it will belong to the one who bought it and to his future sons. The house will not go back to the first owner at Jubilee.31 But houses in small towns without walls are like open country; they can be bought back, and they must be returned to their first owner at Jubilee.

32 
“ ‘The Levites may always buy back their houses in the cities that belong to them.33 If someone buys a house from a Levite, that house in the Levites’ city will again belong to the Levites in the Jubilee. This is because houses in Levite cities belong to the people of Levi; the Israelites gave these cities to them.34 Also the fields and pastures around the Levites’ cities cannot be sold, because those fields belong to the Levites forever.

Rules for Slave Owners

35 

“ ‘If anyone from your country becomes too poor to support himself, help him to live among you as you would a stranger or foreigner.36 Do not charge him any interest on money you loan to him, but respect your God; let the poor live among you.37 Don’t lend him money for interest, and don’t try to make a profit from the food he buys.38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give the land of Canaan to you and to become your God.

39 
“ ‘If anyone from your country becomes very poor and sells himself as a slave to you, you must not make him work like a slave.40 He will be like a hired worker and a visitor with you until the year of Jubilee.41 Then he may leave you, take his children, and go back to his family and the land of his ancestors.42 This is because the Israelites are my servants, and I brought them out of slavery in Egypt. They must not become slaves again.43 You must not rule this person cruelly, but you must respect your God.

44 
“ ‘Your men and women slaves must come from other nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.45 Also you may buy as slaves children from the families of foreigners living in your land. These child slaves will belong to you,46 and you may even pass them on to your children after you die; you can make them slaves forever. But you must not rule cruelly over your own people, the Israelites.

47 
“ ‘Suppose a foreigner or visitor among you becomes rich. If someone in your country becomes so poor that he has to sell himself as a slave to the foreigner living among you or to a member of the foreigner’s family,48 the poor person has the right to be bought back and become free. One of his relatives may buy him back:49 His uncle, his uncle’s son, or any one of his close relatives may buy him back. Or, if he gets enough money, he may pay the money to free himself.

50 
“ ‘He and the one who bought him must count the time from when he sold himself up to the next year of Jubilee. Use that number to decide the price, because the person really only hired himself out for a certain number of years.51 If there are still many years before the year of Jubilee, the person must pay back a large part of the price.52 If there are only a few years left until Jubilee, the person must pay a small part of the first price.53 But he will live like a hired person with the foreigner every year; don’t let the foreigner rule cruelly over him.

54 
“ ‘Even if no one buys him back, at the year of Jubilee, he and his children will become free.55 This is because the people of Israel are servants to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.