They would reap it and place it in baskets [and] bring it to the [Temple] Courtyard. They would toast it in fire in order to fulfill the mitzvah of toasting; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. But the Sages say: They beat it with reeds and stalks so that it should not be crushed. [Then] they would place it in a pipe, which was perforated so that the fire should prevail over all of it. They would spread it out in the Courtyard and the wind would blow on it. They would place it in a grist-mill and extract from it an issaron, which was sifted with thirteen sieves. The remainder is redeemed and may be eaten by anyone. It is subject to challah but exempt from maaser. R’ Akiva declares it subject to challah and to maaser. He approached the issaron, and put in its oil and its frankincense; he [then] poured and mixed, waved and brought [it] near [to the Altar], and performed kemitzah and burnt [it] on the Altar; the remainder is eaten by the Kohanim.

After the omer was offered, they would go out and find the market place of Jerusalem full of flour and the flour of toasted grain, which was against the will of the Sages; [these are] the words of R’ Meir. R’ Yehudah says: [It was] in accordance with the will of the Sages [that] they did it. After the omer was offered, the new grain was permitted immediately. Those who were distant were permitted from midday and onward. After the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai instituted that the entire Day of Waving should be forbidden. Said R’ Yehudah: Is it not Biblically forbidden, as it is stated (Lev. 23:14): Until this very day? Why are those who are distant permitted from midday and onward? Because they know that the court does not procrastinate with it.