16 Also, you are to observe the Festival of Harvest* of the first ripe fruits of your labors, of what you sow in the field;+ and the Festival of Ingathering* at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the results of your labors.+

12 “‘And on the 15th day of the seventh month, you should hold a holy convention. You must not do any hard work, and you must celebrate a festival to Jehovah seven days.+

13 “You should celebrate the Festival of Booths*+ for seven days when you make an ingathering from your threshing floor and from your press for oil and wine.

4 Then they held the Festival of Booths* according to what is written,+ and day by day they offered up the specified number of burnt sacrifices that were required each day.+

14 Then they found written in the Law that Jehovah had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should dwell in booths* during the festival in the seventh month,+ 15 and that they should make proclamation+ and announce throughout all their cities and throughout Jerusalem, saying: “Go out to the mountainous region and bring in leafy branches from olive trees, pine trees, myrtle and palm trees, and the leafy branches of other trees to make booths, according to what is written.”

16 So the people went out and brought them in to make booths for themselves, each one on his roof, as well as in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of the true God,+ in the public square of the Water Gate,+ and in the public square of the Gate of Eʹphra·im.+ 17 Thus all those of the congregation who had come back from the captivity made booths and were dwelling in the booths, for the Israelites had not done it this way from the days of Joshua+ the son of Nun until that day, so that there was very great rejoicing.+ 18 And day by day there was a reading from the book of the Law of the true God,+ from the first day until the last day. And they held the festival for seven days, and there was a solemn assembly on the eighth day, as was required.+

2 However, the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles+ was near.