c.
By keeping the three main annual festivals—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles
16:1-17
Deut. 16
:1
16:1
Observe the month of
aAbib, and hold the
1Passover to Jehovah your God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah your God brought you out of Egypt by
bnight.
Deut. 16
:2
16:2
And you shall sacrifice the passover to Jehovah your God, from the flock and from the herd, in the
aplace where Jehovah will choose to cause His name to dwell.
Deut. 16
:3
16:3
You shall not eat anything leavened with it; seven days you shall eat
aunleavened bread with it,
that is, the bread of affliction (for in alarmed haste you came out of the land of Egypt); in order that you may
bremember the day of your coming out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
Deut. 16
:4
16:4
And aleaven shall not be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice in the evening on the first day remain until
bmorning.
Deut. 16
:5
16:5
You may not sacrifice the passover within any of your gates, which Jehovah your God is giving you;
Deut. 16
:6
16:6
Rather, in the
aplace where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell, you shall sacrifice the passover in the
bevening, as the sun sets, at the time that you came out of Egypt.
Deut. 16
:7
16:7
And you shall cook and eat
it in the
aplace which Jehovah your God will choose, and you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents.
Deut. 16
:8
16:8
Six days you shall eat
aunleavened bread. And on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to Jehovah your God; you shall not do any work.
Deut. 16
:9
16:9
You shall count off for yourself
aseven weeks. You shall begin to count the seven weeks from
the time that you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
Deut. 16
:10
16:10
And you shall hold the
aFeast of Weeks to Jehovah your God according to the sufficiency of the freewill offering of your hand, which you will give, as Jehovah your God blesses you.
Deut. 16
:11
16:11
And you and your son and daughter, and your male servant and female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst shall rejoice before Jehovah your God in the
aplace where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell.
Deut. 16
:12
16:12
And you shall
aremember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall keep and do these statutes.
Deut. 16
:13
16:13
You shall hold the
aFeast of
1Tabernacles for seven days after your
bingathering from your threshing floor and your winepress.
Deut. 16
:14
16:14
And you and your son and daughter, and your male servant and female servant, and the Levite and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates shall rejoice in your feast.
Deut. 16
:15
16:15
You shall keep the feast to Jehovah your God for seven days in the
aplace which Jehovah will choose, for Jehovah your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings; therefore you shall be nothing but joyful.
Deut. 16
:16
16:16
aThree times a year all your males shall appear before Jehovah your God in the
bplace which He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the
cFeast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before Jehovah
dempty-handed;
Deut. 16
:17
16:17
Each man
shall give as he is able to give, according to the blessing of Jehovah your God, which He has given you.
5.
Concerning the government among the people
16:18-20
a.
The appointing of judges and officers
16:18-20
Deut. 16
:18
16:18
You shall appoint for yourself
1judges and
aofficers 2in all your cities which Jehovah your God is giving you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous
bjudgment.
Deut. 16
:19
16:19
You shall not distort justice; you shall
anot respect persons, nor shall you take a
bbribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
Deut. 16
:20
16:20
Righteousness,
and only righteousness, shall you pursue, in order that you may live and possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.
d.
By not having any mixture of idolatry
16:21-22
Deut. 16
:21
16:21
You shall not plant for yourself an
1Asherah of any kind of tree beside the
1altar of Jehovah your God, which you will make for yourself;
Deut. 16
:22
16:22
Nor shall you erect for yourself a pillar,
something which Jehovah your God hates.
