The Father's Passover Feast
16 1 Observe the month of Abib and keep Passover to your Father, for in the month of Abib your Father brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Sacrifice the Passover to your Father from flock and herd, at the place your Father chooses to settle his name there. a a v2 The place where the Father chose to set his name pointed ahead to the day his children would worship him anywhere, in spirit and truth, through Jesus. 3 Eat no leavened bread with it. For seven days eat unleavened bread with it—hardship bread—because you left the land of Egypt in haste, so you remember the day you left the land of Egypt as long as you live. 4 Let no yeast be found in all your territory for seven days; none of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day may remain until morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your towns that your Father is giving you, 6 but at the place your Father will choose to make his name dwell, sacrifice the Passover there—in the evening, at sunset, the time you left Egypt. 7 Cook it and eat it where your Father chooses, then turn in the morning and go to your tents. 8 Eat bread without yeast six days; on the seventh day, gather in assembly to your Father — do no work.
The Feast of Weeks
9 Count seven weeks for yourself; begin counting seven weeks from when the sickle first enters the standing grain. 10 Keep the Feast of Weeks to your Father: a voluntary offering from your hand, proportioned to your Father's blessing. 11 You shall rejoice before your Father—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, the Levite in your towns, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow among you—at the place your Father chooses to settle his name there. 12 Remember you were a slave in Egypt, and carefully keep these statutes.
The Feast of Booths
13 Celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days, when you gather in from your threshing floor and your winepress. b b v13 Booths: temporary shelters made from branches, recalling Israel's years of wandering in the wilderness. 14 Rejoice at your feast—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow in your towns. 15 Keep the feast to your Father seven days, at the place he chooses, because he will bless you in all your produce and all your hands' work — so be fully joyful. 16 Three times a year all your men shall appear before your Father at the place he chooses: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths — none empty-handed. 17 Each man gives according to his hand's gift, according to the blessing your Father gave you.
Judges and Righteous Justice
18 Appoint judges and officers in every town your Father gives you, tribe by tribe, to judge the people with just judgment. 19 Do not twist justice, do not show favoritism, do not take a bribe—for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20 Pursue justice, only justice, so you may live and possess the land your Father gives you.
Worship Your Father Alone
21 Do not plant for yourself any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of your Father that you build. 22 And you shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar, which your Father hates.
