Deuteronomy 16
The full text of Deuteronomy 16 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night.
2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.
4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you
6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, at the time of day you departed from Egypt.
7 Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold a solemn assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.
9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.
10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing the LORD your God has given you.
11 And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.
13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place he will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
19 Do not pervert 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.
20 Justice, and justice alone, you shall pursue, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God,
22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.
Translation notes (6)
- Deuteronomy 16:1a "Aviv" is the early-spring month when barley ripens (later called Nisan); the name is kept in the translation rather than converted to a modern calendar month so that the sense of harvest time is not lost.
- Deuteronomy 16:3a "The bread of affliction" (lechem 'oni) refers to unleavened bread that recalls both the hardship and the haste of the exodus departure. The term conveys both the suffering of slavery and the urgency of deliverance.
- Deuteronomy 16:7a The Hebrew verb bishshalta normally means "boil" or "cook." However, in this Passover context, it is translated "roast" to align with Exodus 12:8-9, which specifies that the lamb must be roasted, not boiled. This translation choice harmonizes the two laws regarding the cooking method.
- Deuteronomy 16:19a The phrase "show partiality" literally means "recognize faces," referring to deciding a case based on who a person is rather than the facts. The vivid form of the proverb about bribery, that it "blinds the eyes of the wise," is preserved here.
- Deuteronomy 16:20a The doubled Hebrew word, tsedeq tsedeq tirdof, which literally means "justice, justice you shall pursue," is used for emphasis. This repetition stresses a single-minded and relentless pursuit of justice, and the translation "Justice, and justice alone" preserves that force.
- Deuteronomy 16:21a An Asherah was a wooden cult object or sacred tree associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Setting one beside the LORD's altar would combine his worship with pagan practices.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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