Deuteronomy Chapter 16

At a Glance

  • Deuteronomy 16 unfolds a rhythm of appointed feasts and public worship, anchoring Israel’s calendar and identity in divine initiative.
  • The chapter proceeds to instruct the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), each accompanied by prescribed offerings and communal rejoicing.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • This chapter sits squarely within Deuteronomy’s program to centralize worship and shape a distinct national life that reflects God’s character.
  • - Centralized worship as safeguard of covenant faithfulness.

Chapter Overview

Deuteronomy 16 unfolds a rhythm of appointed feasts and public worship, anchoring Israel’s calendar and identity in divine initiative. The chapter begins with the Passover, reminding Israel that liberation from Egypt is the defining act of God’s redemptive work. The Passover command is sharpened by instructions for unleavened bread, the place God will choose for worship, and timing—evidence of centralized worship and covenant fidelity.

The chapter proceeds to instruct the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), each accompanied by prescribed offerings and communal rejoicing. The liturgical calendar serves as a daily reminder of God’s provision and faithfulness, cultivating gratitude, generosity, and communal unity. The call to celebrate before the LORD with family, Levites, aliens, fatherless, and widows echoes the old prophetic insistence that true worship bears fruit in justice and hospitality.

Historical & Literary Context

This chapter sits squarely within Deuteronomy’s program to centralize worship and shape a distinct national life that reflects God’s character. It assumes a land beyond the wilderness, where annual feasts serve not only as religious observances but as public acts of shared memory and covenant renewal. The feasts are pedagogical—embodying God’s salvation history and inviting the community into grateful participation in divine generosity. The literary function is to orient the people toward a rhythm of worship that binds the community across generations.

Key Themes

- Centralized worship as safeguard of covenant faithfulness

- Remembering salvation through ritual and feast

- Joyful generosity and inclusive worship (stranger, Levite, and vulnerable included)

- Land blessing tied to obedience and generosity

Modern Application

- Corporate worship as memory and mission: Regular, planned worship events can become meaningful community rhythms that shape identity and mission.

- Inclusion in worship: The text’s insistence on including the alien, the fatherless, and the widow challenges modern religious communities to broaden hospitality and ensure equitable participation.

- Joyful giving and celebration: The feasts model grateful, joyful worship that translates into generosity, social cohesion, and shared life.

- Exodus 12 (Passover and liberation)

- Leviticus 23 (Israel’s appointed feasts)

- Psalm 81 (the joy of worship)

- Acts 2 (koinonia and shared life)

Recommended Personas

- Moses (instructional leadership in covenant worship)

- Jesus (fulfillment of feasts, hospitality, and worship in Spirit and truth)

- Paul (theologian of communal life and worship)

- David (worshiper-king shaping communal praise)

Chapter Text

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 sacrifice 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 tribute 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 corn 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 words 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; which the LORD thy God hateth.

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