Deuteronomy 16:4-14

4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen in thee within all thy borders for seven days; neither shall any of the flesh which thou didst sacrifice the evening of the first day remain all night until the morning.

5 Thou may not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates (or within any of thy towns) which the LORD thy God gives thee

6 but at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell in; there thou shalt sacrifice the passover in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at the appointed time when thou came forth out of Egypt.

7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, and thou shalt turn in the morning and return unto thy tabernacles.

8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God; thou shalt do no work in this.

9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou shalt begin to put the sickle to the grain.

10 And thou shalt do the solemn feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God; out of the voluntary abundance of thy hand thou shalt give, according as the LORD thy God has blessed thee.

11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God has chosen to place his name there.

12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt; therefore thou shalt keep and do these statutes.

13 Thou shalt observe the solemn feast of the tabernacles seven days after thou hast gathered in the harvest of thy threshing floor and thy winepress.

14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy solemn feast, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy gates (or within thy towns).

Deuteronomy 16:4-14 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.