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Exodus 23
English Standard Version

23 (A)“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a (B)malicious witness. 2 You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, 3 (C)nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 (D)“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

6 (E)“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7 (F)Keep far from a false charge, and (G)do not kill the innocent and righteous, for (H)I will not acquit the wicked. 8 (I)And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

9 (J)“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

10 (K)“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

12 (L)“Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

13 (M)“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

14 (N)“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 (O)You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of (P)Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. (Q)None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep (R)the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the (S)Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 (T)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

18 (U)“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.

19 “The best of the (V)firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

(W)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Conquest of Canaan Promised

20 (X)“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; (Y)do not rebel against him, (Z)for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then (AA)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 (AB)“When my angel goes before you and brings you (AC)to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall (AD)not bow down to their gods nor serve them, (AE)nor do as they do, but (AF)you shall utterly overthrow them and break their (AG)pillars in pieces. 25 You (AH)shall serve the Lord your God, and (AI)he[a] will bless your bread and your water, and (AJ)I will take sickness away from among you. 26 (AK)None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the (AL)number of your days. 27 I will send (AM)my terror before you and will throw into (AN)confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And (AO)I will send hornets[b] before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 (AP)I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 (AQ)And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates,[c] for (AR)I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 (AS)You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, (AT)it will surely be a snare to you.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:25 Septuagint, Vulgate I
  2. Exodus 23:28 Or the hornet
  3. Exodus 23:31 Hebrew the River
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Exodus 23
American Standard Version

23 Thou shalt not take up a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou [a]speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest justice: 3 neither shalt thou favor a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, [b]thou shalt forbear to leave him, thou shalt surely release it with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the justice due to thy poor in his cause. 7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8 And thou shalt take no bribe: for a bribe blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the [c]words of the righteous. 9 And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress: for ye know the heart of a sojourner, seeing ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof: 11 but the seventh year thou shalt [d]let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt [e]rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner, may be refreshed. 13 And in all things that I have said unto you take ye heed: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty: 16 and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning. 19 The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

20 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Take ye heed before him, and hearken unto his voice; [f]provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. 23 For mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: and I will cut them off. 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their [g]pillars. 25 And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall none cast her young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27 I will send my terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 31 And I will set thy border from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto [h]the River: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:2 Or, bear witness
  2. Exodus 23:5 Or, and wouldest forbear to release it for him, thou shalt surely release it with him
  3. Exodus 23:8 Or, cause
  4. Exodus 23:11 Or, release it and let it lie fallow. See Dt. 15:2.
  5. Exodus 23:12 Or, keep sabbath
  6. Exodus 23:21 Or, be not rebellious against him
  7. Exodus 23:24 Or, obelisks
  8. Exodus 23:31 That is, the Euphrates.
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Exodus 23
New International Version

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)

2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) 3 and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

4 “If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 5 If you see the donkey(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

6 “Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)

8 “Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.(P) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Six days do your work,(Q) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.(R)

13 “Be careful(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.(U)

The Three Annual Festivals

14 “Three times(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(Y)

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest(Z) with the firstfruits(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.(AC)

17 “Three times(AD) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.(AE)

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.(AF)

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(AH)

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way

20 “See, I am sending an angel(AI) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.(AJ) 21 Pay attention to him and listen(AK) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive(AL) your rebellion,(AM) since my Name(AN) is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do(AO) all that I say, I will be an enemy(AP) to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,(AQ) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(AR) them or follow their practices.(AS) You must demolish(AT) them and break their sacred stones(AU) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,(AV) and his blessing(AW) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness(AX) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren(AY) in your land. I will give you a full life span.(AZ)

27 “I will send my terror(BA) ahead of you and throw into confusion(BB) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.(BC) 28 I will send the hornet(BD) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites(BE) out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals(BF) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession(BG) of the land.

31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(BH) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(BI) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(BJ) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(BK) to you.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
  2. Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines
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Exodus 23
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Laws about Honesty and Justice

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join[a] the wicked to be a malicious witness.(A)

2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.(B) 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

5 “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.[b](C)

6 “You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. 7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.(D) 8 You must not take a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words[c] of the righteous. 9 You must not oppress a foreign resident;(F) you yourselves know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and Festivals

10 “Sow your land for six years and gather its produce.(G) 11 But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Do your work(H) for six days but rest on the seventh day so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave as well as the foreign resident may be refreshed.

13 “Pay strict attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.[d](I)

14 “Celebrate a festival in My honor three times a year.(J) 15 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib,[e] because you came out of Egypt in that month. No one is to appear before Me empty-handed.(K) 16 Also observe the Festival of Harvest[f] with the firstfruits of your produce from what you sow in the field, and observe the Festival of Ingathering[g](L) at the end of the year, when you gather your produce[h] from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God.

18 “You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened. The fat of My festival offering must not remain until morning.(M)

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.(N)

Promises and Warnings

20 “I am going to send an angel(O) before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice. Do not defy[i] him, because he will not forgive your acts of rebellion, for My name is in him.(P) 22 But if you will carefully obey him and do everything I say, then I will be an enemy(Q) to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.(R) 24 You must not bow down to their gods or worship them. Do not imitate their practices. Instead, demolish them[j] and smash their sacred pillars to pieces.(S) 25 Worship the Lord your God, and He[k] will bless your bread and your water. I will remove illnesses from you.(T) 26 No woman will miscarry or be childless in your land. I will give you the full number of your days.(U)

27 “I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror[l] and throw into confusion(V) all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat. 28 I will send the hornet[m](W) in front of you, and it will drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites away from you. 29 I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you. 30 I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous[n] and take possession of the land. 31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea,[o] and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River.[p] For I will place the inhabitants of the land under your control, and you will drive them out ahead of you.(X) 32 You must not make a covenant(Y) with them or their gods. 33 They must not remain in your land, or else they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, it will be a snare for you.”(Z)

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:1 Lit join hands with
  2. Exodus 23:5 Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him
  3. Exodus 23:8 Or and subverts the cause
  4. Exodus 23:13 Lit mouth
  5. Exodus 23:15 March–April; called Nisan in the post-exilic period; Neh 2:1; Est 3:7
  6. Exodus 23:16 The Festival of Harvest is called Festival of Weeks elsewhere; Ex 34:22. In the NT it is called Pentecost; Ac 2:1.
  7. Exodus 23:16 The Festival of Ingathering is called Festival of Booths elsewhere; Lv 23:34-36.
  8. Exodus 23:16 Lit labors
  9. Exodus 23:21 Or embitter
  10. Exodus 23:24 Probably the idols
  11. Exodus 23:25 LXX, Vg read I
  12. Exodus 23:27 Lit will send terror of Me ahead of you
  13. Exodus 23:28 Or send panic
  14. Exodus 23:30 Lit fruitful
  15. Exodus 23:31 Lit the Sea of the Philistines
  16. Exodus 23:31 Lit the River
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Exodus 23
Amplified Bible

Various Laws

23 “You shall not give a false report; you shall not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness [promoting wrong and violence]. 2 You shall not follow a crowd to do [something] evil, nor shall you testify at a trial or in a dispute so as to side with a crowd in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you favor or be partial to a poor man in his dispute [simply because he is poor].

4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering off, you must bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].

6 “You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.

8 “You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.

9 “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

10 “You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

12 “Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed. 13 Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me. 15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings]. 16 Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the [a]Lord God.

18 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with [b]leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.

19 “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the Lord your God.

“You shall not [c]boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Conquest of the Land

20 “Behold, I am going to send an [d]Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Be on your guard before Him, listen to and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name (authority) is in Him.(A) 22 But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 When My Angel goes before you and brings you to [the land of] the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, I will reject them and completely destroy them. 24 You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship]. 25 You shall serve [only] the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you. 26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; [e]I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight]. 28 I will send hornets ahead of you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land. 31 I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment].”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:17 “Lord” with only an initial capital is Heb Adonai (Master); “God” (all caps) represents YHWH (Yahweh) and is usually rendered “Lord” (all caps).
  2. Exodus 23:18 Because leaven is a kind of fungus, it became a symbol of corruption and sin. But in some contexts it had positive connotations (e.g. Lev 23:17; Matt 13:33).
  3. Exodus 23:19 This may have been a pagan practice, perhaps a fertility rite.
  4. Exodus 23:20 “Angel” has been capitalized here to reflect the likelihood that it is God appearing in a visible form (see note Gen 16:7).
  5. Exodus 23:26 I.e. grant you long life.
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