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
Lexham English Bible
Regulations Regarding Justice
23 “‘You will not spread[a] a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2 You will not follow[b] a majority[c] for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority[d] to pervert justice. 3 You will not be partial to a powerless person[e] in his legal dispute.
4 “‘If you come upon the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you will certainly bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of your enemy lying down under its burden, you will refrain from abandoning him. You will surely arrange[f] it with him.
6 “‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute. 7 You will stay far from a false charge,[g] and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, because I will not declare the wicked righteous.[h] 8 And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous. 9 And you will not oppress an alien; you yourselves know the feelings[i] of the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Regulations Regarding Work and Festivals
10 “‘And six years you will sow your land and gather its yield. 11 But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals[j] of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees.
12 “‘Six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you will stop so that your ox and your donkey will rest and the son of your slave woman and the alien will be refreshed.
13 “‘And you will be attentive to all that I have said to you, and you will not profess[k] the name of other gods; it will not be heard in your mouth.
14 “‘Three times in the year you will hold a festival for me. 15 You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you at the appointed time, the month of Abib, because in it you came out from Egypt, and no one will[l] appear before me empty-handed. 16 And you will keep the Feast of Harvest, with the firstfruits of your work, what you sow in the field. And you will keep the Feast of Harvest Gathering when the year goes out, when you gather your work from the field. 17 Three times in the year all your men will appear before the Lord Yahweh.
18 “‘You will not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice together with food with yeast, and you will not leave the fat of my feast overnight until morning.
19 “‘The best of the firstfruits of your land you will bring to the house of Yahweh your God.
“‘You will not boil a young goat[m] in its mother’s milk.
Reasons for Loyal Obedience
20 “‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23 When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites[n] and the Hittites[o] and the Perizzites[p] and the Canaanites[q] and the Hivites[r] and the Jebusites,[s] I will wipe them out.
24 “‘You will not bow to their gods, and you will not serve them, and you will not act according to their actions, because you will utterly demolish them, and you will utterly break their stone pillars. 25 And you will serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from among you. 26 There will be no one suffering miscarriage or infertile in your land. I will make full the number of your days.[t]
27 “‘I will release my terror before you, and I will throw into confusion all the people against whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their back to you.[u] 28 And I will send the hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivites,[v] the Canaanites,[w] and the Hittites[x] from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a desolation and the wild animals[y] multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you are fruitful and take possession of the land.
31 “‘And I will set your boundary from the Red Sea[z] and up to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert up to the river,[aa] because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. 32 You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods. 33 They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.’”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:1 Literally “lift”
- Exodus 23:2 Literally “be behind”
- Exodus 23:2 Or “many” or “the many”
- Exodus 23:2 Or “many” or “the many”
- Exodus 23:3 Or “a poor person”
- Exodus 23:5 Or “restore” or “put in order”
- Exodus 23:7 Literally “word of deception”
- Exodus 23:7 Or “treat as innocent” or “acquit”
- Exodus 23:9 Or “inner self” or “soul”
- Exodus 23:11 Hebrew “animal”
- Exodus 23:13 Literally “cause to remember,” “bring to remembrance,” or “mention” in prayer or praise
- Exodus 23:15 Literally “they will not”
- Exodus 23:19 Or “kid”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Hittite”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Hivite”
- Exodus 23:23 Hebrew “Jebusite”
- Exodus 23:26 Or “give you a full life span”
- Exodus 23:27 Literally “give all your enemies to you back”
- Exodus 23:28 Hebrew “Hivite”
- Exodus 23:28 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Exodus 23:28 Hebrew “Hittite”
- Exodus 23:29 Literally “the animal of the field”
- Exodus 23:31 Literally “sea of reed”
- Exodus 23:31 Or “the Euphrates”
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