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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

  1. Exodus 23:2 Lit many men
  2. Exodus 23:2 Or answer
  3. Exodus 23:2 Lit many men
  4. Exodus 23:2 Or pervert justice, cf. 23:6
  5. Exodus 23:3 Lit honor
  6. Exodus 23:7 Lit lying word
  7. Exodus 23:8 Or distorts the words
  8. Exodus 23:8 Or righteous
  9. Exodus 23:11 Lit drop
  10. Exodus 23:12 Related to sabbath, cf. Gen 2:2
  11. Exodus 23:12 Related to Noah, cf. Gen 2:15; 5:29
  12. Exodus 23:13 Lit on
  13. Exodus 23:15 Lit they shall not
  14. Exodus 23:18 Or festival
  15. Exodus 23:25 Or that He may bless
  16. Exodus 23:27 Lit offer their necks
  17. Exodus 23:31 Lit Sea of Reeds
  18. Exodus 23:31 The Euphrates River
Listen to Exodus 23
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Exodus 23
New King James Version

Justice for All

23 “You (A)shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an (B)unrighteous witness. 2 (C)You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; (D)nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a (E)poor man in his dispute.

4 (F)“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 (G)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

6 (H)“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 (I)Keep yourself far from a false matter; (J)do not kill the innocent and righteous. For (K)I will not justify the wicked. 8 And (L)you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

9 “Also (M)you shall not oppress a [a]stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Law of Sabbaths

10 (N)“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 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. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your [b]olive grove. 12 (O)Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

13 “And in all that I have said to you, (P)be circumspect and (Q)make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Three Annual Feasts(R)

14 (S)“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 (T)You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; (U)none shall appear before Me empty); 16 (V)and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and (W)the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

17 (X)“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord [c]God.

18 (Y)“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened (Z)bread; nor shall the fat of My [d]sacrifice remain until morning. 19 (AA)The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. (AB)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel and the Promises

20 (AC)“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; (AD)do not provoke Him, for He will (AE)not pardon your transgressions; for (AF)My name is in Him. 22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then (AG)I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 (AH)For My Angel will go before you and (AI)bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will [e]cut them off. 24 You shall not (AJ)bow down to their gods, nor serve them, (AK)nor do according to their works; (AL)but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

25 “So you shall (AM)serve the Lord your God, and (AN)He will bless your bread and your water. And (AO)I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 26 (AP)No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will (AQ)fulfill the number of your days.

27 “I will send (AR)My fear before you, I will (AS)cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And (AT)I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29 (AU)I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. 31 And (AV)I will set your [f]bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the [g]River. For I will (AW)deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 (AX)You shall make no [h]covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, (AY)it will surely be a snare to you.”

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:9 sojourner
  2. Exodus 23:11 olive yards
  3. Exodus 23:17 Heb. YHWH, usually translated Lord
  4. Exodus 23:18 feast
  5. Exodus 23:23 annihilate them
  6. Exodus 23:31 boundaries
  7. Exodus 23:31 Heb. Nahar, the Euphrates
  8. Exodus 23:32 treaty
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Exodus 22
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New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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