Exodus 22:16-23:19

English Standard Version

Laws About Social Justice

¹⁶^(A)“If a man seduces a virgin^[a] who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price^[b] for her and make her his wife. ¹⁷If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, ^(B)he shall pay money equal to the ^(C)bride-price for virgins.

¹⁸^(D)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

¹⁹^(E)“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

²⁰^(F)“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.^[c]

²¹^(G)“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²²^(H)You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³If you do mistreat them, and they ^(I)cry out to me, I will surely ^(J)hear their cry, ²⁴and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and ^(K)your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵^(L)“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. ²⁶^(M)If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he ^(N)cries to me, I will hear, for I am ^(O)compassionate.

²⁸^(P)“You shall not revile God, nor ^(Q)curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹“You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. ^(R)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. ³⁰^(S)You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: ^(T)seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

³¹^(U)“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore ^(V)you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; ^(W)you shall throw it to the dogs.

23 ^(X)“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a ^(Y)malicious witness. ²You 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^(Z)nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴^(AA)“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. ⁵If 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^(AB)“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. ⁷^(AC)Keep far from a false charge, and ^(AD)do not kill the innocent and righteous, for ^(AE)I will not acquit the wicked. ⁸^(AF)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^(AG)“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^(AH)“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, ¹¹but 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^(AI)“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^(AJ)“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^(AK)“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. ¹⁵^(AL)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 ^(AM)Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. ^(AN)None shall appear before me empty-handed. ¹⁶You shall keep ^(AO)the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the ^(AP)Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. ¹⁷^(AQ)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

¹⁸^(AR)“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 ^(AS)firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

^(AT)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Footnotes

Exodus 22:16 Or a girl of marriageable age; also verse 17
Exodus 22:16 Or engagement present; also verse 17
Exodus 22:20 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)