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Appointed Festivals23 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the L ord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals. The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread3 Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the L ord throughout your settlements. 4 These are the appointed festivals of the L ord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them. 5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the L ord, 6and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the L ord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 8For seven days you shall present the L ord’s offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations. The Offering of First Fruits9 The L ord spoke to Moses: 10Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall raise the sheaf before the L ord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it. 12On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the L ord. 13And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L ord; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. The Festival of Weeks15 And from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count off seven weeks; they shall be complete. 16You shall count until the day after the seventh sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the L ord. 17You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the L ord. 18You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the L ord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the L ord. 19You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being. 20The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the L ord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the L ord for the priest. 21On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations. 22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the L ord your God. The Festival of Trumpets23 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 24Speak to the people of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall present the L ord’s offering by fire. The Day of Atonement26 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 27Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the L ord’s offering by fire; 28and you shall do no work during that entire day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the L ord your God. 29For anyone who does not practice self-denial during that entire day shall be cut off from the people. 30And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people. 31You shall do no work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. 32It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall deny yourselves; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath. The Festival of Booths33 The L ord spoke to Moses, saying: 34Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the L ord. 35The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 36Seven days you shall present the L ord’s offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the L ord’s offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations. 37 These are the appointed festivals of the L ord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the L ord offerings by fire—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day— 38apart from the sabbaths of the L ord, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your votive offerings, and apart from all your freewill offerings, which you give to the L ord. 39 Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the L ord, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day. 40On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the L ord your God for seven days. 41You shall keep it as a festival to the L ord seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42You shall live in booths for seven days; all that are citizens in Israel shall live in booths, 43so that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the L ord your God. 44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed festivals of the L ord. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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27. Also on the tenth day of this seventh month. The word כפר, caphar, whence the noun כפרים, cephurim, signifies both to propitiate and to blot out guilt and accusation by means of expiation; כפרים, therefore, are atonements (libationes) for appeasing God; and the word is used in the plural number, because they were not under the imputation of a single kind of guilt, but had need of manifold reconciliations on account of their many and various transgressions. This was indeed done both publicly and privately throughout the rest of the year, for all the victims they offered were so many satisfactions in order to obtain pardon and to reconcile God. Still to these daily exercises was added also a yearly feast-day as a special memorial, and as a sharper spur to repentance: for it was fit that they should be stirred up to pious grief by solemn fasting and sacrifices, inasmuch as they had provoked God’s wrath against themselves through the whole year. Therefore on this feast-day they were cited before His tribunal, in order that, placing themselves there, they should acknowledge that they deserved this judgment, and yet prayed that they might escape punishment; and this was the object of the fast. Meanwhile they learnt from the sacrifices that they were restored to His favor, since simple confession would have been only a ground for despair. Thus, therefore, God required of them sorrow and other indications of penitence, that on His part He might testify that He was duly appeased so as to be propitious to them. The expression, “ye shall afflict your souls,” here refers to the fast, which was required as an outward profession of repentance. And assuredly there was no weight in the fast of itself, since God plainly shews through Isaiah that He makes no account of hypocrites, who trust that they appease him by fasting, (Isaiah 58:3;) but being withdrawn from mere luxurious food and all delicacies, they were reminded of their misery, so that being cast down by grief and humbled, they might more ardently and zealously seek for the remedy. For remission of sins is promised to none but those who, affected with serious sorrow, feel themselves to be lost and miserable, and acknowledge and confess what they have deserved. In this way a door is opened for imploring God’s mercy. Still it is not to be supposed that those who are thus dissatisfied with themselves deserve pardon by their preparation for it. 352352 “Pour s’estre disposez en bon estat, comme on parle.” — Fr. But since it would be contrary to God’s nature to embrace men with His favor who are plunged in their iniquities and obstinate in sin; and again, since it would be most unreasonable that by His clemency license to sin should be given under the pretext of impunity, it is needful that penitence should precede our reconciliation to God. Whence also it appears that He so pardons sinners as still to hate their sins, since He only absolves those who voluntarily condemn themselves, nor admits any into His favor except those who forsake their sins; not that any one perfectly renounces himself or his sins, but through indulgence that penitence is acceptable to God, 353353 “Quand elle n’est point feinte;” when it is not feigned. — Fr. which might justly be rejected on the ground of its deficiencies. Whereby also what I have just said is confirmed, that it is not on account of the merit of our penitence that God acquits us of our sins; as if we redeemed ourselves from guilt and punishment by weeping, sorrowing, and confession, whereas in the best of us all penitence will always be found to be weak and imperfect. Wherefore the cause and the honor of our pardon must only be ascribed to the gratuitous goodness of God. Hence I have said that in their fast the Israelites professed their guilt and condemnation, whilst they were expiated by the sacrifice, since there is no other means of satisfaction. |