Leviticus 23
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 1445 BC – 1406 BC · Egypt & the Exodus · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
44 verses · 1152 words · ~6 min read · ~8 min listen
Feasts and Sabbaths
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the Lord that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord.
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
4These are the Lordʼs appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. 5The Passover to the Lord begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work. 8For seven days you are to present a food offering to the Lord. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
The Feast of Firstfruits
9And the Lord said to Moses, 10“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. 11And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.
12On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord, 13along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil—a food offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
14You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.
The Feast of Weeks
15From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks. 16You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.
17Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the Lord.
18Along with the bread you are to present seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
19You shall also prepare one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs a year old as a peace offering. 20The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the Lord, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.
22When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am the Lord your God.’”
The Feast of Trumpets
23The Lord also said to Moses, 24“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts. 25You must not do any regular work, but you are to present a food offering to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
26Again the Lord said to Moses, 27“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord.
28On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people. 30I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day.
31You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”
The Feast of Tabernacles
33And the Lord said to Moses, 34“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the Lord begins, and it continues for seven days. 35On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work. 36For seven days you are to present a food offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.
37These are the Lordʼs appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting offerings by fire to the Lord—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day. 38These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the Lordʼs Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, to all your vow offerings, and to all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.
39On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the Lord for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day.
40On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willows of the brook. And you are to rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41You are to celebrate this as a feast to the Lord for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.
42You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths, 43so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the Lord.
Footnotes (9)
- a v5 Hebrew begins between the two evenings of the fourteenth
- b v6 That is, the seven-day period after the Passover during which no leaven may be eaten; see Exodus 12:14–20.
- c v13 Two-tenths of an ephah is approximately 4 dry quarts or 4.4 liters (probably about 5.1 pounds or 2.3 kilograms of flour); also in verse 17.
- d v13 A quarter hin is approximately 0.97 quarts or 0.92 liters of wine.
- e v24 Or a sacred assembly, a memorial of shouting
- f v27 Or afflict your souls or deny yourselves; also in verse 32
- g v34 That is, Sukkot, the autumn feast of pilgrimage to Jerusalem; also translated as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Shelters and originally called the Feast of Ingathering (see Exodus 23:16and Exodus 34:22).
- h v40 Or poplars
- i v42 Or tabernacles or shelters; twice in this verse, and also in verse 43; see the footnote for verse 34.
Study notes on this chapter · 2
Firstfruits and the resurrection
At the start of the grain harvest Israel offered a sheaf of firstfruits to God, pledging the rest of the harvest. Paul says Christ has been raised as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, meaning that his resurrection guarantees the harvest of the many.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era); 1 Corinthians, c. AD 55.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The Feast of Weeks and Pentecost
Fifty days after the firstfruits, Israel celebrated the Feast of Weeks with a new grain offering. Luke places the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Greek name for that feast. Jewish tradition also linked the feast with the giving of the law at Sinai, and many Christians see a pairing of law and Spirit, although Acts does not draw it out.
When: Leviticus (Sinai era); Pentecost, c. AD 30–33.
Ways people read this (3)
- The harvest of the Feast of Weeks foreshadows the first harvest of believers at Pentecost.
- Some see a contrast with Sinai: the law on stone and the Spirit in hearts (compare 2 Corinthians 3).
- The link to Sinai is attested in later rabbinic tradition, and may be later than Acts.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.