Torah Summary - Devarim Ch16

Devarim (Deuteronomy): Reeh > Ch 16

Keep the month of spring, and make the Passover offering to the Lord, your G-d, for in the month of spring, the Lord, your G-d, brought you out of Egypt at night. You shall slaughter the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, your G-d, [of the] flock, and [the Festival sacrifices of the] cattle, in the place which the Lord will choose to establish His Name therein. You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzoth, the bread of affliction, for in haste you went out of the land of Egypt, so that you shall remember the day when you went out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. And no leaven shall be seen with you within all your border for seven days; neither shall any of the flesh you slaughter on the preceding day in the afternoon, remain all night until the morning. You shall not sacrifice the Passover offering within any of your cities, which the Lord, your G-d, is giving you. Except at the place which the Lord, your G-d, will choose to establish His Name-there you shall slaughter the Passover offering in the afternoon, as the sun sets, at the appointed time that you went out of Egypt. And you shall roast [it] and eat [it] in the place which the Lord, your G-d, will choose, and you shall turn away in the morning and go to your dwellings. For six days you shall eat matzoth, and on the seventh day there shall be a halt to the Lord, your G-d. You shall not do any work [on it].

You shall count seven weeks for yourself; from[the time] the sickle is first put to the standing crop, you shall begin to count seven weeks. And you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to the Lord, your G-d, the donation you can afford to give, according to how the Lord, your G-d, shall bless you. And you shall rejoice before the Lord, your G-d, -you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your cities, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are among you, in the place which the Lord, your G-d, will choose to establish His Name therein. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall keep and perform these statutes.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat. And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities. Seven days you shall celebrate the Festival to the Lord, your G-d, in the place which the Lord shall choose, because the Lord, your G-d, will bless you in all your produce, and in all the work of your hands, and you will only be happy.

Three times in the year, every one of your males shall appear before the Lord, your G-d, in the place He will choose: on the Festival of Matzoth and on the Festival of Weeks, and on the Festival of Sukkoth, and he shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. [Every] man [shall bring] as much as he can afford, according to the blessing of the Lord, your G-d, which He has given you.

You shall set up judges and law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities that the Lord, your G-d, is giving you, for your tribes, and they shall judge the people [with] righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your G-d, is giving you.

You shall not plant for yourself an asherah, [or] any tree, near the altar of the Lord, your G-d, which you shall make for yourself. And you shall not set up for yourself a monument, which the Lord, your G-d hates.