The Pilgrimage Festivals

Deuteronomy 16:1–17

ca. 1200–332 BCE

1Observe the month of Abib and offer a passover sacrificea to the Lord your God, for it was in the month of Abib, at night, that the Lord your God freed you from Egypt. 2You shall slaughter the passover sacrifice for the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord will choose to establish His name. 3You shall not eat…

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This festival calendar, one of several in the Torah, is found within a larger set of laws in the book of Deuteronomy, framed as part of Moses’ address to the people of Israel before his death. The festivals are celebrated in “the place that the Lord will choose,” understood in Jewish tradition to be the Jerusalem Temple. For other festival calendars, see Ethical and Religious Laws, Holy Days, and Festival Calendar and Offerings. 

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The top of Hammurabi's Stela; Hammurabi stands with a hand to his nose in submission to the seated god Shamash.
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