Deuteronomy 16
Deuteronomy 16 gives instructions about three major pilgrimage festivals—Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles—and then turns to justice in local leadership. Worship, memory, joy, inclusion, and righteous judgment are connected in the chapter.
1verseObserve the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
2verseYou shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
3verseYou shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
4verseNo yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning.
5verseYou may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you;
6versebut at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt.
7verseYou shall roast and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents.
8verseSix days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work.
9verseYou shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.
10verseYou shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to how the LORD your God blesses you.
11verseYou shall rejoice before the LORD your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, in the place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
12verseYou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes.
13verseYou shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press.
14verseYou shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates.
15verseYou shall keep a feast to the LORD your God seven days in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
16verseThree times in a year all of your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty.
17verseEvery man shall give as he is able, according to the LORD your God’s blessing which he has given you.
18verseYou shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19verseYou shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
20verseYou shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.
21verseYou shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the LORD your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves.
22verseNeither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which the LORD your God hates.
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Verses 1–8)
- The Passover commemorates the LORD’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
- Unleavened bread is connected with the haste and affliction of the exodus.
- The celebration is to take place at the place the LORD chooses, reinforcing communal memory and ordered worship.
The Feast of Weeks (Verses 9–12)
- Seven weeks are counted from the beginning of the grain harvest.
- The people are to bring a freewill offering according to the blessing they have received.
- The celebration includes sons, daughters, servants, Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, showing that joy before God is communal and inclusive.
The Feast of Booths and Justice (Verses 13–22)
- The Feast of Booths is kept for seven days after the produce of the threshing floor and winepress has been gathered.
- All are to rejoice before the LORD, and no one is to appear empty-handed.
- The final section commands the appointment of judges and officials, forbids bribery and partiality, and prohibits setting up an Asherah pole or sacred pillar beside the altar of the LORD.
Points to Reflect On
- How do repeated festivals help a community remember grace across generations?
- Why does the chapter connect worship with justice and fair leadership?
- What does it mean that joy before God includes vulnerable and dependent members of society?
Apply It to Your Life
- Create rhythms that help you remember gratitude, deliverance, and dependence on God.
- Practice celebration in a way that includes others rather than only serving private enjoyment.
- In decisions involving others, guard against favoritism, pressure, and unfair advantage.
