Deuteronomy 16

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 'Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover for Yahweh your God, because it was in themonth of Abib that Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.	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.
2 You must sacrifice a Passover from your flock or herd for Yahweh your God in the place whereYahweh chooses to give his name a home.	2 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.
3 You must not eat leavened bread with this; for seven days you must eat it with unleavened bread --the bread of affliction -- since you left Egypt in great haste; this is so that, as long as you live, you wil rememberthe day you came out of Egypt.	3 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.
4 For seven days no leaven must be found in any house throughout your territory, nor must any of themeat that you sacrifice in the evening of the first day be kept overnight until the next day.	4 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.
5 You must sacrifice the Passover not in any of the towns given you by Yahweh your God,	5 "You may not sacrifice the Passover in any of the communities which the LORD, your God, gives you;
6 but in the place where Yahweh your God chooses to give his name a home; there you must sacrificethe Passover, in the evening at sunset, at the hour when you came out of Egypt.	6 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.
7 You wil cook it and eat it in the place chosen by Yahweh your God, and in the morning you mustreturn and go to your tents.	7 You shall cook and eat it at the place the LORD, your God, chooses; then in the morning you may return to your tents.
8 For six days you wil eat unleavened bread; on the seventh day there wil be an assembly for Yahwehyour God; and you must do no work.	8 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.
9 'You must count seven weeks, counting these seven weeks from the time you begin to put your sickleinto the standing corn.	9 "You shall count off seven weeks, computing them from the day when the sickle is first put to the standing grain.
10 You wil then celebrate the feast of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the gift of a voluntary offeringproportionate to the degree in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.	10 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.
11 You must rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place where Yahweh your Godchooses to give his name a home, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and women, the Leviteliving in your community, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living among you.	11 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.
12 Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, and careful y observe these laws.	12 Remember that you too were once slaves in Egypt, and carry out these statutes carefully.
13 'You must celebrate the feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time when you gather in the produceof your threshing-floor and winepress.	13 "You shall celebrate the feast of Booths for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press.
14 You must rejoice at your feast, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and women, theLevite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your community.	14 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.
15 For seven days, you must celebrate the feast for Yahweh your God in the place chosen by Yahweh;for Yahweh your God wil bless you in al your produce and in al your undertakings, so that you will have goodreason to rejoice.	15 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.
16 'Three times a year al your menfolk must appear before Yahweh your God in the place chosen byhim: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, at the feast of Shelters. No one must appearempty-handed before Yahweh,	16 "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,
17 but each must give what he can, in proportion to the blessing which Yahweh your God has bestowedon you.	17 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.
18 'You must appoint judges and scribes in each of the towns that Yahweh your God is giving you, foral your tribes; these are to mete out proper justice to the people.	18 "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.
19 You must not pervert the law; you must be impartial; you wil take no bribes, for a bribe blinds theeyes of the wise and ruins the cause of the upright.	19 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.
20 Strict justice must be your ideal, so that you may live long in possession of the country given you byYahweh your God.	20 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.
21 'You must not plant a sacred pole of any wood whatsoever beside the altar which you erect forYahweh your God;	21 "You shall not plant a sacred pole of any kind of wood beside the altar of the LORD, your God, which you will build;
22 nor wil you set up a standing-stone, a thing Yahweh your God would abhor.'	22 nor shall you erect a sacred pillar, such as the LORD, your God, detests.