Deuteronomy 16:9-17; Numbers 39:35-38, 30:1
This reading is from the special Torah reading for Shemini Atzeret, October 21, 2008. The complete Torah reading for the day is Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 and Numbers 29:35-30:1.
You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for the Lord your God, offering your freewill contribution according as the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall rejoice before the Lord your God with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite in your communities, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish His name. Bear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt, and take care to obey these laws.
After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days. You shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities. You shall hold a festival for the Lord your God seven days, in the place that the Lord will choose; for the Lord your God will bless all your crops and all your undertakings, and you shall have nothing but joy.
Three times a year--on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths--all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place that He will choose. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed, but each with his own gift, according to the blessing that the Lord your God has bestowed upon you.
Numbers 29
On the eighth day you shall hold a solemn gathering; you shall not work at your occupations. 36 You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord; one bull, one ram, seven yearling lambs, without blemish; the meal offerings and libations for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, in the quantities prescribed; and one goat for a sin offering — in addition to the regular burnt offering, its meal offering and libation.
All these you shall offer to the Lord at the stated times, in addition to your votive and freewill offerings, be they burnt offerings, meal offer- ings, libations, or offerings of well-being.
Chapter 30
So Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the Lord had commanded Moses.