Deutéronome 16

¹ “Set aside the month of Abib and observe the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of Abib.

² Sacrifice to the Lord your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the Lord chooses to have his name dwell.

³ Do not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship — because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry — so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

⁴ No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days, and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning.

⁵ You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you.

⁶ Sacrifice the Passover animal only at the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt.

⁷ You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning.

⁸ Eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God; do not do any work.

Note · Deutéronome 16.1–8

La Pâque rappelle une sortie qui n’a pas été produite par le peuple

Le repas et les pains inscrivent la délivrance dans le calendrier. Le lieu choisi organise cette célébration dans la logique du livre. La lecture chrétienne peut y reconnaître la mémoire pascale sans déclarer vide ou dépassée toute signification de la fête juive.

⁹ “You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

¹⁰ You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you.

¹¹ Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you.

¹² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.

Note · Deutéronome 16.9–12

La reconnaissance s’accompagne d’une inclusion

Le don est lié à la bénédiction reçue et la joie réunit la maison, les serviteurs, le Lévite, l’étranger, l’orphelin et la veuve. Le texte ne mesure donc pas la fête au seul confort de ceux qui peuvent la financer. Le souvenir de l’esclavage en règle la portée sociale.

¹³ “You are to celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and winepress.

¹⁴ Rejoice during your festival — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates.

¹⁵ You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place he chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, and you will have abundant joy.

¹⁶ “All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place he chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.

¹⁷ Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you.

Note · Deutéronome 16.13–17

Se réjouir ne signifie pas oublier les autres

La fête des huttes accompagne le rassemblement des récoltes. Chacun apporte selon ce qu’il a reçu, et non pour prouver une valeur personnelle supérieure. La joie demandée doit être entendue dans ce partage ; elle ne peut servir à humilier ceux qui traversent un deuil ou une privation.

¹⁸ “Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

¹⁹ Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

²⁰ Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

²¹ “Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for the Lord your God,

²² and do not set up a sacred pillar; the Lord your God hates them.

Note · Deutéronome 16.18–22

Une justice qui refuse l’argent corrupteur

Les juges doivent poursuivre le droit sans favoriser une personne ni recevoir un cadeau qui déforme leur jugement. Les dernières prescriptions maintiennent aussi une distinction cultuelle. Le lieu religieux ne doit pas devenir un écran derrière lequel la corruption des décisions serait moins grave.