Exodus 23
Legacy Standard Bible
23 “(A)You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a (B)malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow [a]the masses in doing evil, nor shall you [b]testify in a case so as to turn aside after [c]the masses in order to [d](C)cause justice to be turned aside; 3 (D)nor shall you [e]be partial to a poor man in his case.
4 “(E)If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5 (F)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
6 “(G)You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. 7 (H)Keep far from a [f]false charge, and (I)do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for (J)I will not justify the guilty.
8 “(K)And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [g]subverts the cause of the [h]just.
9 “(L)And you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Judgments About Work and Rest
10 “(M)Now you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its produce, 11 but on the seventh year you shall let it [i]rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. Thus you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “(N)Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall [j]rest so that your ox and your donkey may [k]rest, and the son of your maidservant, as well as your sojourner, may refresh themselves. 13 Now (O)concerning everything which I have said to you, beware; and (P)do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard [l]from your mouth.
Judgments About National Feasts
14 “(Q)Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall keep (R)the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the (S)month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And [m](T)none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall keep (U)the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year (V)when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 (W)Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
18 “(X)You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; (Y)nor is the fat of My [n]feast to remain overnight until morning.
19 “You shall bring (Z)the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God.
“(AA)You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
Yahweh Will Drive Out Israel’s Enemies
20 “Behold, I am going to send (AB)an angel before you to keep you along the way and (AC)to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Keep watch of yourself before him and listen to his voice; (AD)do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since (AE)My name is in him. 22 But if you truly listen to his voice and do all that I speak, then (AF)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 (AG)For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will annihilate them. 24 (AH)You shall not worship their gods, you shall not serve them, and you shall not do according to their deeds; (AI)but you shall utterly pull them down and shatter their (AJ)sacred pillars in pieces. 25 (AK)But you shall serve Yahweh your God, [o]and He will bless your bread and your water; and (AL)I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There shall be no one miscarrying or (AM)barren in your land; (AN)I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will (AO)send My terror ahead of you and (AP)throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will (AQ)make all your enemies [p]turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send (AR)hornets ahead of you so that they will (AS)drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. 29 (AT)I will not drive them out before you in a single year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out before you (AU)little by little, until you become fruitful and take the land as an inheritance. 31 (AV)And I will set your boundary from the [q]Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the [r]River; (AW)for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will (AX)drive them out from before you. 32 (AY)You shall cut no covenant with them (AZ)or with their gods. 33 (BA)They shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, (BB)it will surely be a snare to you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:2 Lit many men
- Exodus 23:2 Or answer
- Exodus 23:2 Lit many men
- Exodus 23:2 Or pervert justice, cf. 23:6
- Exodus 23:3 Lit honor
- Exodus 23:7 Lit lying word
- Exodus 23:8 Or distorts the words
- Exodus 23:8 Or righteous
- Exodus 23:11 Lit drop
- Exodus 23:12 Related to sabbath, cf. Gen 2:2
- Exodus 23:12 Related to Noah, cf. Gen 2:15; 5:29
- Exodus 23:13 Lit on
- Exodus 23:15 Lit they shall not
- Exodus 23:18 Or festival
- Exodus 23:25 Or that He may bless
- Exodus 23:27 Lit offer their necks
- Exodus 23:31 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 23:31 The Euphrates River
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
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
