Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Leviticus 23

God orders Israel’s calendar around worship and rest, joining harvest celebrations with self-denial and remembrance of deliverance from Egypt.

YHWH tells Moses to proclaim Israel’s appointed feasts and holy gatherings, beginning with the Sabbath. He sets dates for Passover and the harvest offerings, then gives commands for the seventh month’s observances. These include trumpet blasts, the Day of Atonement with its strict demands, and seven days of living in booths. Alongside instructions for offerings and rest, God commands landowners to leave grain for the poor and the foreigner. Moses passes these commands to Israel.

sermon or Bible study notespraise and worshipgratitude
Read
2“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.
3“‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
4“‘These are the set feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
5In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD’s Passover.
6On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
7In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.’”
10“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to the LORD.
13The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
14You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15“‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
16The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the LORD.
17You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to the LORD.
18You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.
19You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21You shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.’”
24“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.’”
27“However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
28You shall do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people.
30Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people.
32It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”
34“Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to the LORD.
35On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
36Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
37“‘These are the appointed 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, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day—
38in addition to the Sabbaths of the LORD, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to the LORD.
39“‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.
40You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
42You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters,
43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”
44So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Leviticus 23:3The Sabbath heads the calendar, establishing a recurring day of complete rest and holy gathering throughout Israel’s dwellings.
Leviticus 23:5Passover opens the annual festival sequence on a fixed date, followed by seven days of unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:24Trumpet blasts mark the first day of the seventh month, which also contains the Day of Atonement and Booths.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus shares the Passover observance and the deliverance from Egypt remembered here, while Numbers sets out offerings for the same appointed days. Nehemiah records the people observing the Feast of Booths, and John places Jesus in Jerusalem during that feast.

Leviticus 23's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about the place of the poor and the foreigner within Israel’s harvest worship?

Write on this

How might living in temporary shelters shape the way Israel remembered deliverance from Egypt?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Leviticus 23

What does “holy convocation” mean in Leviticus 23?

A holy convocation is a gathering set apart for worship. The chapter uses the term for the Sabbath and designated festival days, pairing these gatherings with restrictions on work. Several observances also require offerings, with the kind of rest and sacrifice specified for each occasion.

What does “afflict yourselves” mean in Leviticus 23?

The phrase calls for self-denial and humbling before God on the Day of Atonement. Fasting is the customary understanding, though this chapter does not name a specific practice. The command stands beside a complete ban on work and grave penalties for refusing to observe the day.

Why did Israelites live in booths in Leviticus 23?

God commands native-born Israelites to live in temporary shelters for seven days so future generations will know that he made Israel dwell in shelters when he brought them out of Egypt. The feast follows the gathering of the land’s produce and includes rejoicing before YHWH.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Leviticus 23. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Leviticus · 27 chapters

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).