2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be aholy convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
3a‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4a‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
5aOn the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
7aOn the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no1 customary work on it.
8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: a‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of bthe firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
11 He shall awave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord.
13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a1 sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
16 Count afifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer ba new grain offering to the Lord.
17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are athe firstfruits to the Lord.
18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord.
19 Then you shall sacrifice aone kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a bpeace offering.
20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. aThey shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22a‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the aseventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, ba memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”
27a“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.
28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, ato make atonement for you before the Lord your God.
29 For any person who is not aafflicted in soul on that same day bshall be cut off from his people.
30 And any person who does any work on that same day, athat person I will destroy from among his people.
31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall1 afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall2 celebrate your sabbath.”
34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: a‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.
35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.
36 For seven days you shall offer an aoffering made by fire to the Lord. bOn the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a csacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
37a‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—
38abesides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.
39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have agathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.
40 And ayou shall take for yourselves on the first day the1 fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; band you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
41aYou shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42aYou shall dwell in booths for seven days. bAll who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
43athat your generations may bknow that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when cI brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
44 So Moses adeclared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.
These festivals belong to God, not to Israel or the church. He is their Source, sets their times, gives them meaning, and is their ultimate Object—all about Him and His plan. Observance focuses on Him and His teaching, bringing spiritual and physical benefits. A second principle emerges in proclaiming them holy convocations: these appointed times are set apart for calling God's people together for fellowship, instruction, and worship, producing unity in purpose, doctrine, and relationships within the Body of Christ. A third principle establishes the weekly Sabbath and seven annual holy days as Sabbaths and holy convocations requiring no customary work. Food preparation is permitted on holy days for joyful feasting, though preparing beforehand yields greater benefit.
Leviticus 23:1-3
This opening shot reveals two very important principles to begin our quest to find out how to keep the holy days.
The first, repeated twice in one verse, is that these festivals are God's feasts, not Israel's, not the church's. He is their Source, He set the times, He gave them meaning, and He is their ultimate Object. We could say they are all about Him—and His plan and our part in it with Him. Our observance of these days is to focus on Him and His teaching, and with that comes wonderful spiritual and physical benefits.
The second principle appears in the command to "proclaim [them] to be holy convocations." These divinely appointed times are set apart for calling together. In today's language, a primary purpose of the feasts of God is to bring God's people together, not just for fellowship, but also for instruction and most importantly, to honor and worship God Himself. These holy times, then, contain a vitally important corporate aspect, producing unity in purpose, doctrine, and relationships within the Body of Christ.
The next verse, Leviticus 23:3, presents a third important principle: "Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings." Along with the weekly Sabbath, the seven annual holy days—the first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag Hamatzot), Pentecost (Shavuot, also called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest), the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, also called the Fast), the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth), and the eighth day (often called the Last Great Day)—are also Sabbaths.
Like Sabbaths, they are holy convocations, as can be seen in the ensuing instructions. In most cases, the wording is that the holy day "is a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it" (see Leviticus 23:7-8, 21, 24-25, 35-36). This means that we are not to attend to our normal, weekday work—the kinds of activities that we do on the other six days of the week. This includes not only our paying jobs, but also the ordinary work that we would do around the house, on our cars, in our yards, at the local community center, etc.
In the instructions for keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, though, God stipulates, "No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you" (Exodus 12:16). Feasting is part of the holy day experience. God wants us to eat and drink of the abundance that He has bestowed upon us in thanksgiving and joy on His appointed times, so He allows us to prepare food on the holy days. Even so, it is still better to prepare as much of the food beforehand, as on a weekly Sabbath, to get the most from the feasts.
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These festivals belong to God, not to Israel or the church. He is their Source, sets their times, gives them meaning, and is their ultimate Object—all about Him and His plan. Observance focuses on Him and His teaching, bringing spiritual and physical benefits. A second principle emerges in proclaiming them holy convocations: these appointed times are set apart for calling God's people together for fellowship, instruction, and worship, producing unity in purpose, doctrine, and relationships within the Body of Christ. A third principle establishes the weekly Sabbath and seven annual holy days as Sabbaths and holy convocations requiring no customary work. Food preparation is permitted on holy days for joyful feasting, though preparing beforehand yields greater benefit.