Deuteronomy 16:1-22

Justice at the Gate

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1Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

2You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.

3You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

4No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.

5You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.

6You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.

7And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.

8For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God, and you must not do any work.

9You are to count off seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.

10And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the LORD your God has blessed you,

11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

12Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes.

13You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.

14And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

15For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place He will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete.

16Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

17Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.

18You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

19Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

20Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

21Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for the LORD your God,

22and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates.

Berean Standard Bible

Read aloud

Moses tells Israel to keep Passover in the month when the LORD brought them out of Egypt. Unleavened bread will remind them of leaving in haste, and the sacrifice must be offered at the place God chooses. Year by year, their worship will recall the rescue that made them His people.

The Feast of Weeks comes seven weeks after the harvest begins. Each household brings a freewill offering in proportion to God's blessing. After gathering the produce of the threshing floor and winepress, Israel celebrates the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. Sons, daughters, servants, Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows are to share the joy. The harvest is not only an occasion for landowners to celebrate their success.

Three times each year, Israel's men must appear before the LORD with gifts according to what He has given them. The same amount is not demanded from everyone. God has provided, and each worshiper is to respond within that provision.

Moses then commands the appointment of judges and officials in every town. They must refuse favoritism and bribes, which blind even the wise and twist judgment. A people rejoicing before God must also pursue justice in its courts. The final prohibition of an Asherah pole or sacred pillar beside His altar keeps the same demand for faithful worship before them.

Questions

1 What did Israel's festivals remember?

AnswerThey remembered deliverance, God's provision, and the harvest blessings through which the LORD sustained His people.

2 What could a bribe do to justice?

AnswerIt could blind the wise and twist the words of the righteous, turning a court away from truth.

3 How much was each worshiper to bring?

AnswerEach was to bring a gift according to his ability and the blessing the LORD had given him, rather than one fixed amount for everyone.

4 What kind of leadership does the chapter require?

AnswerIt requires leaders and judges who refuse partiality, reject bribes, and remain accountable to God's word.

What This Means for Us

Deuteronomy refuses to separate religious devotion from public fairness. A celebration can be sincere while a court, workplace, or household quietly favors the powerful. God cares about both the song and the decision made at the gate.

Ask where influence or wealth may be bending your judgment. Practice a form of fairness that protects the person with less power, even when favoritism would be easier.

Prayer

Righteous LORD, make our celebrations grateful and our decisions fair. Expose the ways power can distort judgment, and keep every leader humble beneath Your word. Amen.

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