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Chapter 16

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¹ "Observe the month of Abib by keeping the Passover of the LORD, your God, since it was in the month of Abib that he brought you by night out of Egypt.

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You shall offer the Passover sacrifice from your flock or your herd to the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses as the dwelling place of his name.

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You shall not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you shall eat with it only unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, that you may remember as long as you live the day of your departure from the land of Egypt; for in frightened haste you left the land of Egypt.

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Nothing leavened may be found in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat which you sacrificed on the evening of the first day shall be kept overnight for the next day.

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"You may not sacrifice the Passover in any of the communities which the LORD, your God, gives you;

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only at the place which he chooses as the dwelling place of his name, and in the evening at sunset, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt, shall you sacrifice the Passover.

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You shall cook and eat it at the place the LORD, your God, chooses; then in the morning you may return to your tents.

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For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh there shall be a solemn meeting in honor of the LORD, your God; on that day you shall not do any sort of work.

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"You shall count off seven weeks, computing them from the day when the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

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² You shall then keep the feast of Weeks in honor of the LORD, your God, and the measure of your own freewill offering shall be in proportion to the blessing the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.

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In the place which the LORD, your God, chooses as the dwelling place of his name, you shall make merry in his presence together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who belongs to your community, as well as the alien, the orphan and the widow among you.

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Remember that you too were once slaves in Egypt, and carry out these statutes carefully.

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³ "You shall celebrate the feast of Booths for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press.

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You shall make merry at your feast, together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and also the Levite, the alien, the orphan and the widow who belong to your community.

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For seven days you shall celebrate this pilgrim feast in honor of the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses; since the LORD, your God, has blessed you in all your crops and in all your undertakings, you shall do nought but make merry.

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"Three times a year, then, every male among you shall appear before the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. No one shall appear before the LORD empty-handed,

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but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.

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"You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes to administer true justice for the people in all the communities which the LORD, your God, is giving you.

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You shall not distort justice; you must be impartial. You shall not take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of the just.

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Justice and justice alone shall be your aim, that you may have life and may possess the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.

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^{4 5} "You shall not plant a sacred pole of any kind of wood beside the altar of the LORD, your God, which you will build;

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nor shall you erect a sacred pillar, such as the LORD, your God, detests.