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
- Exodus 23:25 Septuagint, Vulgate I
- Exodus 23:28 Or the hornet
- Exodus 23:31 Hebrew the River
Exodus 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Justice for All
23 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness.(A) 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice,[a](B) 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.
4 “When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.(C)
5 “When you see the donkey of one who hates you struggling under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.(D)
6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits.(E) 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty.(F) 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds officials and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.(G)
9 “You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.(H)
Sabbatical Year and Sabbath
10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield,(I) 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and with your olive orchard.
12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may have relief and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.(J) 13 Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.
The Annual Festivals
14 “Three times in the year you shall hold a festival for me. 15 You shall observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days 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.(K)
16 “You shall observe the Festival of Harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.(L) 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened or let the fat of my festival remain until the morning.
19 “The choicest of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.(M)
The Conquest of Canaan Promised
20 “I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.(N) 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.(O)
22 “But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.(P)
23 “When my angel goes in front of you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,(Q) 24 you shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices, but you shall utterly demolish them and break their pillars in pieces.(R) 25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and I[b] will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.(S) 26 No one shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.(T) 27 I will send my terror in front of you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send swarms of hornets[c] in front of you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.(U) 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you.(V) 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea[d] to the sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will hand over to you the inhabitants of the land, and you shall drive them out before you.(W) 32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.(X) 33 They shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”(Y)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.