公义与怜悯

23 “不可散布谣言,也不可与恶人一起作伪证陷害别人。 不可随众行恶。在法庭作证时不可附和多数人,颠倒是非。 在诉讼的事上不可偏袒穷人。

“倘若看见仇人的牛或驴走迷了路,总要牵回去交给他。 倘若遇见仇人的驴被驮的重物压倒,不可径自走开,总要帮助仇人抬开重物。

“不可在诉讼案中冤枉穷人。 不可诬告别人,不可杀害正直无辜的人,因为我必惩罚作恶之人。 不可收受贿赂,因为贿赂蒙蔽人的眼目,使人颠倒是非。 不可欺凌在你们中间寄居的人,因为你们也曾经在埃及寄居,知道身在异乡的滋味。

安息年和安息日

10 “六年之内你要耕种收割, 11 第七年要让土地休息,不耕不种,你们当中的穷人可以吃田中长出来的,剩下的可以留给动物吃。你也要这样耕作葡萄园和橄榄园。 12 六天之内,你要工作,但第七天要休息。这样,牛、驴可以歇息,你家里的奴仆和寄居的也可以休息。 13 你们要谨慎遵从我对你们说的话。不可提其他神明的名字,不可从你口中听到它们的名字。

三大节期

14 “你每年要向我守三个节期。 15 要守除酵节,照我的吩咐在每年亚笔月所定的日期连续吃七天的无酵饼,因为你是在这个月离开了埃及。谁也不可空手来朝拜我。 16 要在耕种后、收取初熟之物的时候守收割节。要在年终从田间收取劳动成果时守收藏节。 17 以色列所有的男子都要在这三个节期上来朝见主耶和华。

18 “不可把祭牲的血和有酵的饼一起献给我,也不可把祭牲的脂肪留到第二天早晨。 19 要把田中最好的初熟之物送到你们的上帝耶和华的殿中。不可用母山羊的奶煮它的小羊羔。

应许赐迦南

20 “看啊,我要差遣天使走在你前面,在路上保护你,带领你平安地到达我为你预备的地方。 21 他是奉我的名来的,你们要谨遵他的话,不可悖逆,不然他必不赦免你们的过犯。

22 “你若认真听从他的吩咐,遵行我的话,我就与你的仇敌为敌,与你的对头作对。 23 我的天使要走在你前面,带领你去亚摩利人、赫人、比利洗人、迦南人、希未人和耶布斯人所住的地方,我会把他们全部消灭。 24 不可叩拜他们的神明,不可供奉它们,也不可效法他们的行为,要彻底拆毁神像,打碎他们的神柱。 25 你们要事奉你们的上帝耶和华,我必赐给你日用的饮食,使你们身体健康,不受疾病的侵害, 26 在你境内必没有人流产或不育,我会使你寿终正寝。 27 你所到之处,我必使那里的人惶恐不安,使你一切的仇敌都在你面前转身逃跑。 28 我要派黄蜂做你的先锋,赶走那些希未人、迦南人和赫人。 29 我不会在一年之内把这些人全部赶走,免得土地荒凉,野兽肆虐。 30 我会逐渐地赶走他们,直到你们人丁兴旺,可以占据那片土地。 31 我给你定下国界,从红海到非利士海岸,从旷野到幼发拉底河。我要把其中所有的人都交在你手中,你要把他们全部赶出去。 32 不可跟这些民族及其神明立约, 33 也不可让这些民族住在你的土地上,免得他们使你得罪我,你若供奉他们的神明,必因此而陷入网罗。”

23 Don’t spread false rumors. Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness. Don’t take sides with important people to do wrong. When you act as a witness, don’t stretch the truth to favor important people. But don’t privilege unimportant people in their lawsuits either.

When you happen to come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has wandered off, you should bring it back to them.

When you see a donkey that belongs to someone who hates you and it’s lying down under its load and you are inclined not to help set it free, you must help set it free.

Don’t undermine the justice that your poor deserve in their lawsuits. Stay away from making a false charge. Don’t put an innocent person who is in the right to death, because I will not consider innocent those who do such evil. Don’t take a bribe, because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

Don’t oppress an immigrant. You know what it’s like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and festivals

10 For six years you should plant crops on your land and gather in its produce. 11 But in the seventh year you should leave it alone and undisturbed so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave behind, the wild animals may eat. You should do the same with your vineyard and your olive trees.

12 Do your work in six days. But on the seventh day you should rest so that your ox and donkey may rest, and even the child of your female slave and the immigrant may be refreshed.

13 Be careful to obey everything that I have said to you. Don’t call on the names of other gods. Don’t even mention them.

14 You should observe a festival for me three times a year. 15 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, as I commanded you. Eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib,[a] because it was in that month that you came out of Egypt.

No one should appear before me empty-handed. 16 Observe the Harvest Festival for the early produce of your crops that you planted in the field, and the Gathering Festival at the end of the year, when you gather your crop of fruit from the field. 17 All your males should appear three times a year before the Lord God.

18 Don’t offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. Don’t let the fat of my festival offering be left over until the morning.

19 Bring the best of your land’s early produce to the Lord your God’s temple.

Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

God’s promise: messenger and land

20 I’m about to send a messenger in front of you to guard you on your way and to bring you to the place that I’ve made ready. 21 Pay attention to him and do as he says. Don’t rebel against him. He won’t forgive the things you do wrong because I[b] am with him. 22 But if you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, then I’ll be an enemy to your enemies and fight those fighting you.

23 When my messenger goes in front of you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I wipe them out, 24 don’t bow down to their gods, worship them, or do what they do. Instead, you should completely destroy them and smash their sacred stone pillars to bits. 25 If you worship the Lord your God, the Lord will bless your bread and your water. I’ll take sickness away from you, 26 and no woman will miscarry or be infertile in your land. I’ll let you live a full, long life. 27 My terrifying reputation will precede you, and I’ll throw all the people that you meet into a panic. I’ll make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I’ll send insect swarms in front of you and drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. 29 I won’t drive them out before you in a single year so the land won’t be abandoned and the wild animals won’t multiply around you. 30 I’ll drive them out before you little by little, until your numbers grow and you eventually possess the land. 31 I’ll set your borders from the Reed Sea[c] to the Philistine Sea and from the desert to the River. I’ll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out before you. 32 Don’t make any covenants with them or their gods. 33 Don’t allow them to live in your land, or else they will lead you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a dangerous trap for you.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:15 March–April, named Nisan after the exile
  2. Exodus 23:21 Or my name
  3. Exodus 23:31 Or Red Sea

Laws of Justice and Mercy

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

“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) and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 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.

“Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 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)

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

“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

23 »No te dejes llevar por falsos rumores.(A)

»No te dejes llevar por el impío para ser testigo falso.

»No vayas tras las mayorías para actuar mal.

»En un litigio, no respondas a las malas intenciones de la mayoría.

»No discrimines al pobre cuando pida justicia.(B)

»Si encuentras el buey o el asno extraviado de tu enemigo, llévaselo.

»Si ves que el asno del que te aborrece ha caído por el peso de su carga, no dejes de ayudarlo. Al contrario, ayúdalo a levantarse.(C)

»No perviertas el derecho de los pobres cuando pidan justicia.

»Aléjate de la mentira.

»No condenes a muerte al hombre justo e inocente, porque yo no tendré por inocente al malvado.

»No aceptes regalos, porque los regalos impiden ver con claridad y pervierten los actos de justicia.(D)

»No oprimas al extranjero. Bien saben ustedes lo que es ser extranjero, pues extranjeros fueron en la tierra de Egipto.(E)

10 »Sembrarás tu tierra y recogerás tu cosecha durante seis años, 11 pero el séptimo año la dejarás sin sembrar, para que de ella coma la gente pobre de tu pueblo, y los animales del campo se coman lo que quede.

»Lo mismo harás con tu viña y con tu olivar.(F)

12 »Trabajarás seis días, pero el séptimo día reposarás,(G) para que descansen tu buey y tu asno, y recobren sus fuerzas tus esclavos y los extranjeros.

13 »No invoquen con sus labios el nombre de otros dioses. Ni siquiera los mencionen.

»Cumplan ustedes con todo lo que les he ordenado.

Las tres fiestas anuales(H)

14 »Celebrarás en mi honor tres fiestas en el año. 15 Celebrarás la fiesta de los panes sin levadura.(I) Tal y como yo te lo ordené, comerás panes sin levadura durante siete días en el mes de Aviv, que es la fecha establecida, porque en ese mes saliste de Egipto. Y nadie debe presentarse ante mí con las manos vacías.

16 »Celebrarás también la fiesta de la siega, es decir, de los primeros frutos de lo que hayas sembrado(J) en el campo; y al terminar el año, cuando hayas recogido los frutos de tus labores del campo,(K) celebrarás la fiesta de la cosecha.

17 »Todo varón se presentará delante del Señor su Dios tres veces al año.

18 »No ofrecerás la sangre de mi sacrificio junto con pan leudado, ni dejarás para el día siguiente la grasa del animal que me ofrezcas.

19 »Traerás a la casa del Señor tu Dios los primeros frutos de tu tierra.(L)

»No guisarás el cabrito en la leche de su madre.(M)

El ángel del Señor guía a Israel

20 »Como verás, voy a enviar a mi ángel para que te preceda en el camino, y te proteja y te introduzca en el lugar que te he preparado. 21 Ten mucho cuidado y escucha su voz. No le seas rebelde, porque él no les perdonará su rebelión, porque va en mi nombre.

22 »Pero si en verdad escuchas su voz y haces todo lo que yo te diga, seré enemigo de tus enemigos y afligiré a los que te aflijan.

23 »Sí, mi ángel te precederá y te llevará a la tierra de los amorreos, hititas, ferezeos, cananeos, jivitas y jebuseos, a los que voy a destruir.

24 »No te inclinarás ante sus dioses, ni los servirás, ni harás lo que ellos hacen. Al contrario, los destruirás por completo y harás pedazos todas sus estatuas. 25 Pero me servirán a mí, el Señor su Dios, y yo bendeciré tu pan y tus aguas, y quitaré de en medio de ti toda enfermedad.

26 »No habrá en tu tierra mujer que aborte, ni estéril. Yo haré que vivas los años que debes vivir. 27 Haré que mi terror te preceda, y que en todo pueblo donde entres su gente tiemble delante de ti, y que todos tus enemigos se dobleguen ante ti. 28 Delante de ti enviaré a la avispa, para que a tu paso despeje a los jivitas, cananeos e hititas. 29 No los echaré de tu presencia en un año, para que la tierra no se quede desierta ni aumenten contra ti las fieras salvajes. 30 Los echaré de tu presencia poco a poco, hasta que te multipliques y tomes posesión de la tierra. 31 Estableceré tus fronteras desde el Mar Rojo hasta el mar de los filisteos, y desde el desierto hasta el río Éufrates. Sí, pondré en tus manos a los habitantes de la tierra, y tú los arrojarás de tu presencia.

32 »No harás alianzas con ellos ni con sus dioses.

33 »No habitarán en tu tierra, para que no te sean de tropiezo y te hagan pecar y servir a sus dioses.»