Exodus 23
New American Standard Bible
Various Laws
23 “(A)You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a (B)malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow [a]the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you [b]testify in a dispute so as to join together with [c]a crowd in order to (C)pervert justice; 3 (D)nor shall you [d]show favor to a poor person in his dispute.
4 “(E)If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. 5 (F)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for [e]its owner; you must arrange the load with him.
6 “(G)You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 (H)Keep far from a false charge, and (I)do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for (J)I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “(K)You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [f]subverts the cause of the just.
9 “(L)You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the [g]feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The Sabbath and the Land
10 “Now (M)you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it [h]rest and lie uncultivated, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the animal of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “(N)For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves. 13 Now (O)concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and (P)do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard [i]from your mouth.
Three 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 of Abib, for in [j]that month you came out of Egypt. And [k](T)no one is to 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 [l]God.
18 “(X)You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; (Y)nor is the fat of My [m]feast to remain overnight until morning.
19 “You shall bring (Z)the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“(AA)You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
Conquest of the Land
20 “Behold, I am going to send (AB)an angel before you to guard you along the way and (AC)to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey his voice; (AD)do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your rebellion, since (AE)My name is in him. 22 But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, 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 into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 24 (AH)You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; (AI)but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their (AJ)memorial stones in pieces. 25 (AK)And you shall serve the Lord your God, [n]and He will bless your bread and your water; and (AL)I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There will be no one miscarrying or (AM)unable to have children 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 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 from you. 29 (AT)I will not drive them out from you in a single year, so that the land will not become desolate and the animals of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out from you (AU)little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 31 (AV)I will set your boundary from the [o]Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; (AW)for I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will (AX)drive them out from you. 32 (AY)You shall [p]make no covenant with them (AZ)or with their gods. 33 (BA)They shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, (BB)it is certain to be a snare to you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:2 Lit many
- Exodus 23:2 Or answer
- Exodus 23:2 Lit many
- Exodus 23:3 Lit honor
- Exodus 23:5 Lit him
- Exodus 23:8 Or distorts the words
- Exodus 23:9 Lit soul
- Exodus 23:11 Lit drop
- Exodus 23:13 Lit on
- Exodus 23:15 Lit it
- Exodus 23:15 Lit they shall not
- Exodus 23:17 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Exodus 23:18 Or festival
- Exodus 23:25 Or that He may bless
- Exodus 23:31 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 23:32 Lit cut
Exodus 23
Revised Standard Version
Justice for All
23 “You shall not utter a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man, to be a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; nor shall you bear witness in a suit, turning aside after a multitude, so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his suit.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 5 If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it, you shall help him to lift it up.[a]
6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his suit. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 “You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Sabbatical Year and Sabbath
10 “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 wild beasts may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your ass may have rest, and the son of your bondmaid, and the alien, may be refreshed. 13 Take heed to all that I have said to you; and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let such be heard out of your mouth.
The Annual Festivals
14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 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 Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.
19 “The first 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.
The Conquest of Canaan Promised
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. 21 Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.
22 “But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 “When my angel goes before you, and brings you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Per′izzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. 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 the midst of you. 26 None shall cast her young or be barren in your land; I will fulfil the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror before 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 hornets before you, which shall drive out Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you. 29 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 are increased and possess the land. 31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphra′tes; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:5 Gk: Heb obscure
- Exodus 23:25 Gk Vg: Heb he
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.