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
- Exodus 23:1 Lit join hands with
- Exodus 23:5 Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him
- Exodus 23:8 Or and subverts the cause
- Exodus 23:13 Lit mouth
- Exodus 23:15 March–April; called Nisan in the post-exilic period; Neh 2:1; Est 3:7
- 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.
- Exodus 23:16 The Festival of Ingathering is called Festival of Booths elsewhere; Lv 23:34-36.
- Exodus 23:16 Lit labors
- Exodus 23:21 Or embitter
- Exodus 23:24 Probably the idols
- Exodus 23:25 LXX, Vg read I
- Exodus 23:27 Lit will send terror of Me ahead of you
- Exodus 23:28 Or send panic
- Exodus 23:30 Lit fruitful
- Exodus 23:31 Lit the Sea of the Philistines
- Exodus 23:31 Lit the River
Exodus 23
Common English Bible
23 Don’t spread false rumors. Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness. 2 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. 3 But don’t privilege unimportant people in their lawsuits either.
4 When you happen to come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has wandered off, you should bring it back to them.
5 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.
6 Don’t undermine the justice that your poor deserve in their lawsuits. 7 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. 8 Don’t take a bribe, because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 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
- Exodus 23:15 March–April, named Nisan after the exile
- Exodus 23:21 Or my name
- Exodus 23:31 Or Red Sea
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible