Deuteronomy 16:1-22
1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the 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 leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
5 Thou mayest not sacrificea the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest 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 go unto thy tents.
8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tributeb of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, 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 hath chosen to place his name there.
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy cornc and thy wine:
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the wordsd of the righteous.
20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image;e which the LORD thy God hateth.
Deuteronomy 16:3. Bread of affliction, unleavened bread; for while the Egyptians afflicted them, they had not time to prepare their food in a proper manner.
Deuteronomy 16:10. The feast of weeks; from the barley harvest at Easter to Whitsunday, or Pentecost, which lasted only one day, was seven weeks. After this feast the people returned to reap the wheat harvest.
Deuteronomy 16:13. After that thou hast gathered in thy corn. Aristotle in his book of Ethics, (lib. 8. cap. 9) says, “the ancient assemblies and conventions for sacrifices were made after the fruits of the earth were reaped, being a time of the greatest leisure and repose.”
Deuteronomy 16:16. Three times a year. The druids, on the first of May, seem to have assembled the males of their whole tribe or nation, somewhat as the Hebrews. It was a wise law to get the people well instructed at the more leisure seasons of the year; else they might have been idle and wicked, having little foreign trade.
REFLECTIONS.
The passover slain on leaving Egypt, in the houses of the Hebrews, and the blood sprinkled on the doorposts, must now, to promote the solemnity of the sacrifice, and cut off every cover of idolatry, be slain at the door of the tabernacle. In all things let us approach our Maker in the way he has prescribed, that our devotion may be accepted.
The festivals, after tracing the wonderful works of the Lord, are recited, that the recollection of those works might never die, and that the spirit of religion might be kept alive throughout all ages by the exercises of devotion. Our mercies are many, our privileges great, and the recollection of what God has done for us should excite us to renewed obedience.
The appointment of paternal judges in the gate, or chamber over the gate of every city, was a gracious act of divine wisdom. Quarrels and frauds were hereby quickly adjusted by men of wisdom and experience, who could easily acquire the fullest local information. Venerable judges resident in the same town, and having to face the equity of their decisions, would be impartial. Approach to their courts would neither be expensive, nor attended with much loss of time. The equity and dispatch with which cases were decided would prevent bad passions from corroding the heart; and bad men would be deterred from crimes by the speedy execution of justice. Hence we must regard the magistrates, and the municipal authorities, as ministers of God whose commissions are derived from the source of all power and authority. Whether their election proceeds from the prince, or from the people, the sanction is divine. And we may be assured, as all human decisions are imperfect, that God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ.