Deuteronomy 16:13-22

The Festival of Booths

13 "You are to celebrate the Festival of Booths for seven days when you have gathered in [everything] from your threshing floor and winepress.[a]
14 Rejoice during your festival-you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates.
15 You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place He chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will have abundant joy.
16 "All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths.[b] No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.
17 Everyone [must appear] with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you.

Appointing Judges and Officials

18 "Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
19 Do not deny justice or show partiality [to anyone]. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
20 Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.[c]

Forbidden Worship

21 "Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for the Lord your God,
22 and do not set up a sacred pillar; the Lord your God hates them.[d]

Deuteronomy 16:13-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 16

This chapter treats of the three grand yearly festivals, of the feast of passover, when, where, and what was to be sacrificed, how to be dressed, and in what manner to be eaten, De 16:1-8, of the feast of pentecost, when to begin it, where and how it was to be observed, De 16:9-12, and of the feast of tabernacles, when, where, and how long it was to be kept, De 16:13-15, which three times in the year all the males were to appear before the Lord, and not empty, De 16:16,17, an order is given for the appointment of judges in the land, to execute judgment, De 16:18-20, and the chapter is closed with a caution against planting groves, and setting up images, De 16:21,22.

Footnotes 4

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