Deuteronomy 16

• 1. "In honor of the LORD your God, always celebrate the Passover at the proper time in early spring, for that was when the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
• 2. Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the LORD your God at the place he chooses for his name to be honored.
• 3. Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days eat only bread made without yeast, as you did when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread--the bread of suffering--so that you will remember the day you departed from Egypt as long as you live.
• 4. Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for seven days. And do not let any of the meat of the Passover lamb remain until the next morning.
• 5. "The Passover must not be eaten in the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.
• 6. It must be offered at the place the LORD your God will choose for his name to be honored. Sacrifice it there as the sun goes down on the anniversary of your exodus from Egypt.
• 7. Roast the lamb and eat it in the place the LORD your God chooses. Then go back to your tents the next morning.
• 8. For the next six days you may not eat bread made with yeast. On the seventh day the people must assemble before the LORD your God, and no work may be done on that day.
• 9. "Count off seven weeks from the beginning of your grain harvest.
• 10. Then you must celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the LORD your God. Bring him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.
• 11. It is a time to celebrate before the LORD your God at the place he chooses for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your whole family, all your servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.
• 12. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these laws.
• 13. "Another celebration, the Festival of Shelters, must be observed for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed.
• 14. This festival will be a happy time of rejoicing with your family, your servants, and with the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns.
• 15. For seven days celebrate this festival to honor the LORD your God at the place he chooses, for it is the LORD your God who gives you bountiful harvests and blesses all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.
• 16. "Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. They must appear before the LORD your God at the place he chooses on each of these occasions, and they must bring a gift to the LORD.
• 17. All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the LORD your God.
• 18. "Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They will judge the people fairly throughout the land.
• 19. You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.
• 20. Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
• 21. "You must never set up an Asherah pole beside the altar of the LORD your God.
• 22. And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the LORD your God hates them.

Deuteronomy 17

• 1. "Never sacrifice a sick or defective ox or sheep to the LORD your God, for he detests such gifts.
• 2. "Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant
• 3. by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden.
• 4. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
• 5. then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death.
• 6. But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one witness. There must always be at least two or three witnesses.
• 7. The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people will join in. In this way, you will purge all evil from among you.
• 8. "Suppose a case arises in a local court that is too hard for you to decide--for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder or only of manslaughter, or a difficult lawsuit, or a case involving different kinds of assault. Take such cases to the place the LORD your God will choose,
• 9. where the Levitical priests and the judge on duty will hear the case and decide what to do.
• 10. The decision they make at the place the LORD chooses will always stand. You must do exactly what they say.
• 11. After they have interpreted the law and reached a verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed; do not modify it in any way.
• 12. Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel.
• 13. Then everyone will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly.
• 14. "You will soon arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, and you will conquer it and settle there. Then you may begin to think, `We ought to have a king like the other nations around us.'
• 15. If this happens, be sure that you select as king the man the LORD your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite, not a foreigner.
• 16. The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself, and he must never send his people to Egypt to buy horses there, for the LORD has told you, `You must never return to Egypt.'
• 17. The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will lead him away from the LORD. And he must not accumulate vast amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.
• 18. "When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy these laws on a scroll for himself in the presence of the Levitical priests.
• 19. He must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the LORD his God by obeying all the terms of this law.
• 20. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. This will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

Deuteronomy 18

• 1. "Remember that the Levitical priests and the rest of the tribe of Levi will not be given an inheritance of land like the other tribes in Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites will eat from the offerings given to the LORD by fire, for that is their inheritance.
• 2. They will have no inheritance of their own among the Israelites. The LORD himself is their inheritance, just as he promised them.
• 3. "These are the parts the priests may claim as their share from the oxen and sheep that the people bring as offerings: the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.
• 4. You must also give to the priests the first share of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at shearing time.
• 5. For the LORD your God chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister in the LORD's name forever.
• 6. "Any Levite who so desires may come from any town in Israel, from wherever he is living, to the place the LORD chooses.
• 7. He may minister there in the name of the LORD his God, just like his fellow Levites who are serving the LORD there.
• 8. He may eat his share of the sacrifices and offerings, even if he has a private source of income.
• 9. "When you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.
• 10. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling or sorcery, or allow them to interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,
• 11. or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.
• 12. Anyone who does these things is an object of horror and disgust to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you.
• 13. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
• 14. The people you are about to displace consult with sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the LORD your God forbids you to do such things.
• 15. "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites, and you must listen to that prophet.
• 16. For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You begged that you might never again have to listen to the voice of the LORD your God or see this blazing fire for fear you would die.
• 17. "Then the LORD said to me, `Fine, I will do as they have requested.
• 18. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will tell that prophet what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command him.
• 19. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.
• 20. But any prophet who claims to give a message from another god or who falsely claims to speak for me must die.'
• 21. You may wonder, `How will we know whether the prophecy is from the LORD or not?'
• 22. If the prophet predicts something in the LORD's name and it does not happen, the LORD did not give the message. That prophet has spoken on his own and need not be feared.

New Living Translation: 58 of 324 days.