The Three Appointed Feasts

16¹ Keep the month of Abib, and celebrate the passover to Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. ² And thou shalt sacrifice the passover to Jehovah thy God, of the flock and of the herd, in the place which Jehovah will choose to cause his name to dwell there. ³ Thou shalt eat no leavened bread along with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread with it, bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste,—that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt, all the days of thy life. ⁴ And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst at even on the first day, be left over night until the morning.— ⁵ Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover in one of thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee; ⁶ but at the place that Jehovah thy God will choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the time that thou camest forth out of Egypt. ⁷ And thou shalt cook and eat it at the place which Jehovah thy God will choose; and in the morning shalt thou turn and go unto thy tents. ⁸ Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a solemn assembly to Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work. ⁹ Seven weeks shalt thou count: from the beginning of putting the sickle into the corn shalt thou begin to count seven weeks. ¹⁰ And thou shalt hold the feast of weeks to Jehovah thy God with a tribute of a voluntary-offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give, according as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee; ¹¹ and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are in thy midst in the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there. ¹² And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and thou shalt keep and do these statutes. ¹³ The feast of tabernacles shalt thou hold seven days, when thou hast gathered in [the produce] of thy floor and of thy winepress. ¹⁴ And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in thy gates. ¹⁵ Seven days shalt thou hold a feast to Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah will choose; for Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy produce, and in all the work of thy hands, and thou shalt be wholly joyful. ¹⁶ Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he will choose, at the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before Jehovah empty: ¹⁷ each [shall give] according to that which is in his power to give, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee.

The Administration of Justice

¹⁸ Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes, that they may judge the people with just judgment. ¹⁹ Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a bribe; for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Perfect justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and possess the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee. ²¹ Thou shalt not plant thyself an Asherah of any wood near unto the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou shalt make thee. ²² Neither shalt thou set thee up a statue, which Jehovah thy God hateth.

17¹ Thou shalt not sacrifice to Jehovah thy God an ox or sheep wherein is a defect, or anything bad; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God. ² If there be found in thy midst in any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth what is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant, ³ and goeth and serveth other gods, and boweth down to them, either to the sun or to the moon, or to the whole host of heaven, which I have not commanded; ⁴ and it be told thee, and thou hearest of it; then thou shalt make thorough inquiry, and if it be truth [and] the thing be certain, that this abomination hath been wrought in Israel, ⁵ thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman, who committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, the man or the woman, and shalt stone them with stones, that they die. ⁶ At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death: he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness. ⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.

⁸ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose. ⁹ And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment; ¹⁰ and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the word, which they of that place which Jehovah will choose shall declare unto thee; and thou shalt take heed to do according to all that they instruct thee: ¹¹ according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left. ¹² And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel. ¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and no more act presumptuously.

Instructions concerning a King

¹⁴ When thou comest unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me; ¹⁵ thou shalt only set him king over thee whom Jehovah thy God will choose: from among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee; thou mayest not set a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. ¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people to Egypt, to multiply horses; for Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall not return again any more that way. ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. ¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites; ¹⁹ and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; ²⁰ that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his sons, in the midst of Israel.

The Portions of the Levites

18¹ The priests, the Levites, [and] the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: Jehovah's offerings by fire, and his inheritance shall they eat, ² but they shall have no inheritance among their brethren: Jehovah, he is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. ³ And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that sacrifice a sacrifice, whether ox, or sheep: they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the jawbones, and the maw. ⁴ The firstfruits [also] of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstfruits of the shearing of thy sheep, shalt thou give him; ⁵ for Jehovah thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, that he may stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, he and his sons continually. ⁶ And if the Levite shall come from one of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and shall come according to all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah will choose, ⁷ and shall serve in the name of Jehovah his God, as all his brethren the Levites that stand there before Jehovah, ⁸ —they shall have like portions to eat, besides that which he hath sold of his patrimony.

Warning against Heathen Practices

⁹ When thou art come into the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you he that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, that useth divination, that useth auguries, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or a charmer, or one that inquireth of a spirit of Python, or a soothsayer, or one that consulteth the dead. ¹² For every one that doeth these things is an abomination to Jehovah, and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth dispossess them from before thee. ¹³ Thou shalt be perfect with Jehovah thy God. ¹⁴ For these nations, which thou shalt dispossess, hearkened unto those that use auguries, and that use divination; but as for thee, Jehovah thy God hath not suffered thee [to do] so.

God Promises a Prophet like Moses

¹⁵ Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken; ¹⁶ according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. ¹⁷ And Jehovah said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. ¹⁸ A prophet will I raise up unto them from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass that the man who hearkeneth not unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. ²¹ And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word that Jehovah hath not spoken? ²² When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing followeth not, nor cometh to pass, that is the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: be not afraid of him.

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs before the End

13¹ And as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples says to him, Teacher, see what stones and what buildings! ² And Jesus answering said to him, Seest thou these great buildings? not a stone shall be left upon a stone, which shall not be thrown down. ³ And as he sat on the mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ Tell us, when shall these things be, and what is the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?

⁵ And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any one mislead you. ⁶ For many shall come in my name, saying, It is I, and shall mislead many. ⁷ But when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not disturbed, for [this] must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸ For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in [different] places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these things [are the] beginnings of throes. ⁹ But ye, take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to sanhedrims and to synagogues: ye shall be beaten and brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them; ¹⁰ and the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ But when they shall lead you away to deliver you up, be not careful beforehand as to what ye shall say, [nor prepare your discourse]: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak; for ye are not the speakers, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² But brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child; and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. ¹³ And ye will be hated of all on account of my name; but he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved.

¹⁴ But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not, (he that reads let him consider [it],) then let those in Judaea flee to the mountains; ¹⁵ and him that is upon the housetop not come down into the house, nor enter [into it] to take away anything out of his house; ¹⁶ and him that is in the field not return back to take his garment. ¹⁷ But woe to those that are with child and to those that give suck in those days! ¹⁸ And pray that it may not be in winter time; ¹⁹ for those days shall be distress such as there has not been the like since [the] beginning of creation which God created, until now, and never shall be; ²⁰ and if [the] Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh should have been saved; but on account of the elect whom he has chosen, he has cut short those days.