HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 544
D EU T ERO N O MY 1 6
will bless you as he has promised. You will lend
money to many nations but will never need to
borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will
not rule over you.
7 “But if there are any poor Israelites in your
towns when you arrive in the land the Lord
your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted
or tightfisted toward them. 8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. 9 Do not
be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan
because the year for canceling debts is close
at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and
the needy person cries out to the Lord, you
will be considered guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord
your God will bless you in everything you do.
11 There will always be some in the land who
are poor. That is why I am commanding you to
share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
Release for Hebrew Slaves
12 “If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to
be your servant* and serves you for six years, in
the seventh year you must set that servant free.
13 “When you release a male servant, do not
send him away empty-handed. 14 Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him
some of the bounty with which the Lord your
God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were
once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord
your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving
you this command.
16 “But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not
leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you. 17 In that
case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your
servant for life. And do the same for your female
servants.
18 “You must not consider it a hardship when
you release your servants. Remember that for
six years they have given you services worth
double the wages of hired workers, and the
Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals
19 “You must set aside for the Lord your God all
the firstborn males from your flocks and herds.
Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work
your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of
your flocks. 20 Instead, you and your family must
eat these animals in the presence of the Lord
your God each year at the place he chooses.
21 But if this firstborn animal has any defect,
such as lameness or blindness, or if anything
else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it
to the Lord your God. 22 Instead, use it for food
for your family in your hometown. Anyone,
whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may
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eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.
23 But you must not consume the blood. You
must pour it out on the ground like water.
Passover and the Festival
of Unleavened Bread
“In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early
spring, in the month of Abib,* for that was the
month in which the Lord your God brought you
out of Egypt by night. 2 Your Passover sacrifice
may be from either the flock or the herd, and
it must be sacrificed to the Lord your God at
the designated place of worship—the place he
chooses for his name to be honored. 3 Eat it with
bread made without yeast. For seven days the
bread you eat must be made without yeast, as
when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry.
Eat this bread—the bread of suffering—so that
as long as you live you will remember the day
you departed from Egypt. 4 Let no yeast be
found in any house throughout your land for
those seven days. And when you sacrifice the
Passover lamb on the evening of the first day,
do not let any of the meat remain until the next
morning.
5 “You may not sacrifice the Passover in just
any of the towns that the Lord your God is
giving you. 6 You must offer it only at the designated place of worship—the place the Lord
your God chooses for his name to be honored.
Sacrifice it there in the evening as the sun goes
down on the anniversary of your exodus from
Egypt. 7 Roast the lamb and eat it in the place
the Lord your God chooses. Then you may go
back to your tents the next morning. 8 For the
next six days you may not eat any bread made
with yeast. On the seventh day proclaim another holy day in honor of the Lord your God,
and no work may be done on that day.
16
The Festival of Harvest
9 “Count off seven weeks from when you first
begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest.
10 Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest* to
honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings
you have received from him. 11 This is a time to
celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his
name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons
and daughters, your male and female servants,
the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.
12 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt,
so be careful to obey all these decrees.
15:12 Or If a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you.
16:1 Hebrew Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover
unto the Lord your God. Abib, the first month of the ancient
Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurs within the months
of March and April. 16:10 Hebrew Festival of Weeks; also
in 16:16. This was later called the Festival of Pentecost (see
Acts 2:1). It is celebrated today as Shavuot (or Shabuoth).