Exodus 23
World English Bible
23 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. 3 You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.
6 “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
8 “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
10 “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, 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 animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
12 “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
13 “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.
14 “You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. 15 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. 16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
19 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 22 But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. 25 You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. 31 I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; 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, 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, it will surely be a snare to you.”
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
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