Leviticus 23 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1445 BC at Sinai, describing a yearly calendar Israel would keep once settled in farmland
Location
Given at Sinai, but pointed at the future agricultural life of Canaan with its grain and grape harvests
Audience
The whole community of Israel, since these festivals were public and household based rather than priest only
Situation
God lays out Israel's annual schedule of sacred assemblies: the weekly sabbath, Passover and unleavened bread, firstfruits, the feast of weeks, the day of trumpet blasts, the Day of Atonement, and the festival of shelters. Each gets its date, its required offerings, and its rest requirements.
Key Background
The calendar runs on the farming year, with three of the festivals tied to barley, wheat, and fruit harvests, so worship and the work seasons moved together. During the festival of shelters families camped in temporary booths for a week to remember the wilderness years, a deliberate annual reminder of homelessness for a nation that would soon own land. These same dates shape the New Testament narrative, since Passover, the feast of weeks known as Pentecost, and the festival of shelters all appear as the settings of major events.
Yahweh spoke to Moses:
Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are my Yahweh's that you are to announce as for
You may work for six days, but the seventh day is a of an assembly kept for God. You must not do any work. Wherever you live, it is a that belongs to Yahweh.
These are Yahweh's appointed times, the assemblies kept for God that you are to announce at their proper times:
"On the fourteenth day of the first month, at is Yahweh's
"On the fifteenth day of that month is Yahweh's of For seven days you must eat made without yeast.
On the first day, hold an assembly kept for God and do no regular work.
Present to Yahweh for seven days. On the seventh day, hold an assembly kept for God and do no regular work.
Yahweh spoke to Moses:
"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you and you its crops, bring the of your to the priest.
"He is to the bundle before Yahweh so it will be accepted on your behalf. The priest is to it on the day after the Sabbath.
"On the day you wave the bundle, you must also offer a year-old male lamb as a to Yahweh,
"along with its of four quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil — a food with a to Yahweh — and its of one quart of wine.
"You must not eat any bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, until you have brought this offering to your God. This is a for every generation, wherever you live.
"From the day after the Sabbath—the day you brought the bundle for the wave offering—count off seven full weeks.
"Count up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to Yahweh.
"From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread as a wave offering, each made from four quarts of fine flour, baked with yeast, as an offering of to Yahweh.
"Along with the bread, present seven year-old male lambs without defect, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burned offering to Yahweh, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering with a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.
"Then offer one male goat as an for and two year-old male lambs as a
The priest is to wave the two lambs before as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits. They to and they go to the priest.
On that same day, announce an assembly kept for God and do no regular work. This is a permanent rule wherever you live, for every generation.
"When you harvest the crops of your land, do not cut all the way to the edges of your field or gather up what's left over from your harvest. Leave it for the and for the you. I am Yahweh your God."
Yahweh spoke to Moses:
Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month, you are to have a day of complete rest, marked by the of an assembly kept for God.
"Do no regular work, and present a food offering to Yahweh."
Yahweh spoke to Moses:
The tenth of this seventh month is the of Hold an assembly kept for God, and present a food offering to Yahweh.
"Do no work on that day, because it is a Day of Coverings, when is for you before Yahweh your God.
"Anyone who does not deny themselves on that day must be from their
"Anyone who does any work on that day—I will destroy that person from among their people.
"You must not do any work at all. This is a permanent rule for every generation, wherever you live.
"It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the of the ninth day of the month the you are to observe your Sabbath."
Yahweh spoke to Moses:
"Tell the Israelites: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, Yahweh's of begins, and it lasts for seven days.
The first day is an assembly kept for God; do no regular work.
For seven days present food offerings to Yahweh. On the eighth day, hold an assembly kept for God and present a food offering to Yahweh. It is a do no regular work.
These are Yahweh's appointed times that you are to announce as assemblies kept for God, for presenting food offerings to Yahweh: burned offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings, each on its proper day,
"in addition to Yahweh's regular Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, all your and all the you give to Yahweh.
"Also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered in the crops of the land, celebrate Yahweh's festival for seven days. The first day is a complete rest, and the eighth day is also a complete rest.
"On the first day, take branches from palm fronds, leafy branches, and river willows, and your God for seven days.
"Celebrate this as a to Yahweh for seven days each year. This is a permanent rule for every generation; celebrate it in the seventh month.
"Live in for seven days. Every native-born Israelite is to live in
"so that descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in shelters when I them out of I am
So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed times of Yahweh.