Exodus 23

New International Version

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.^(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.^(B)

²“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice^(C) by siding with the crowd,^(D) ³and do not show favoritism^(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

⁴“If you come across your enemy’s^(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.^(G) ⁵If you see the donkey^(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

⁶“Do not deny justice^(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. ⁷Have nothing to do with a false charge^(J) and do not put an innocent^(K) or honest person to death,^(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.^(M)

⁸“Do not accept a bribe,^(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

⁹“Do not oppress a foreigner;^(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

¹⁰“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, ¹¹but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.^(P) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

¹²“Six days do your work,^(Q) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.^(R)

¹³“Be careful^(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;^(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.^(U)

The Three Annual Festivals

¹⁴“Three times^(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

¹⁵“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;^(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,^(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.^(Y)

¹⁶“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest^(Z) with the firstfruits^(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering^(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.^(AC)

¹⁷“Three times^(AD) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁸“Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.^(AE)

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.^(AF)

¹⁹“Bring the best of the firstfruits^(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.^(AH)

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way

²⁰“See, I am sending an angel^(AI) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.^(AJ) ²¹Pay attention to him and listen^(AK) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive^(AL) your rebellion,^(AM) since my Name^(AN) is in him. ²²If you listen carefully to what he says and do^(AO) all that I say, I will be an enemy^(AP) to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. ²³My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,^(AQ) and I will wipe them out. ²⁴Do not bow down before their gods or worship^(AR) them or follow their practices.^(AS) You must demolish^(AT) them and break their sacred stones^(AU) to pieces. ²⁵Worship the Lord your God,^(AV) and his blessing^(AW) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness^(AX) from among you, ²⁶and none will miscarry or be barren^(AY) in your land. I will give you a full life span.^(AZ)

²⁷“I will send my terror^(BA) ahead of you and throw into confusion^(BB) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.^(BC) ²⁸I will send the hornet^(BD) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites^(BE) out of your way. ²⁹But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals^(BF) too numerous for you. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession^(BG) of the land.

³¹“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea^[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,^[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.^(BH) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out^(BI) before you. ³²Do not make a covenant^(BJ) with them or with their gods. ³³Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare^(BK) to you.”

Footnotes

Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines

Job 41

New International Version

41 ^[a]“Can you pull in Leviathan^(A) with a fishhook^(B)
    or tie down its tongue with a rope?
²Can you put a cord through its nose^(C)
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?^(D)
³Will it keep begging you for mercy?^(E)
    Will it speak to you with gentle words?
⁴Will it make an agreement with you
    for you to take it as your slave for life?^(F)
⁵Can you make a pet of it like a bird
    or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
⁶Will traders barter for it?
    Will they divide it up among the merchants?
⁷Can you fill its hide with harpoons
    or its head with fishing spears?^(G)
⁸If you lay a hand on it,
    you will remember the struggle and never do it again!^(H)
⁹Any hope of subduing it is false;
    the mere sight of it is overpowering.^(I)
¹⁰No one is fierce enough to rouse it.^(J)
    Who then is able to stand against me?^(K)
¹¹Who has a claim against me that I must pay?^(L)
    Everything under heaven belongs to me.^(M)

¹²“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,^(N)
    its strength^(O) and its graceful form.
¹³Who can strip off its outer coat?
    Who can penetrate its double coat of armor^[b]?^(P)
¹⁴Who dares open the doors of its mouth,^(Q)
    ringed about with fearsome teeth?
¹⁵Its back has^[c] rows of shields
    tightly sealed together;^(R)
¹⁶each is so close to the next
    that no air can pass between.
¹⁷They are joined fast to one another;
    they cling together and cannot be parted.
¹⁸Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
    its eyes are like the rays of dawn.^(S)
¹⁹Flames^(T) stream from its mouth;
    sparks of fire shoot out.
²⁰Smoke pours from its nostrils^(U)
    as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.
²¹Its breath^(V) sets coals ablaze,
    and flames dart from its mouth.^(W)
²²Strength^(X) resides in its neck;
    dismay goes before it.
²³The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;
    they are firm and immovable.
²⁴Its chest is hard as rock,
    hard as a lower millstone.^(Y)
²⁵When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;^(Z)
    they retreat before its thrashing.^(AA)
²⁶The sword that reaches it has no effect,
    nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.^(AB)
²⁷Iron it treats like straw^(AC)
    and bronze like rotten wood.
²⁸Arrows do not make it flee;^(AD)
    slingstones are like chaff to it.
²⁹A club seems to it but a piece of straw;^(AE)
    it laughs^(AF) at the rattling of the lance.
³⁰Its undersides are jagged potsherds,
    leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.^(AG)
³¹It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron^(AH)
    and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.^(AI)
³²It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
    one would think the deep had white hair.
³³Nothing on earth is its equal^(AJ)—
    a creature without fear.
³⁴It looks down on all that are haughty;^(AK)
    it is king over all that are proud.^(AL)”

Footnotes

Job 41:1 In Hebrew texts 41:1-8 is numbered 40:25-32, and 41:9-34 is numbered 41:1-26.
Job 41:13 Septuagint; Hebrew double bridle
Job 41:15 Or Its pride is its

Psalm 71

New International Version

Psalm 71^(A)

¹In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;^(B)
    let me never be put to shame.^(C)
²In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear^(D) to me and save me.
³Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.^(E)
⁴Deliver^(F) me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,^(G)
    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.^(H)

⁵For you have been my hope,^(I) Sovereign Lord,
    my confidence^(J) since my youth.
⁶From birth^(K) I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.^(L)
    I will ever praise^(M) you.
⁷I have become a sign^(N) to many;
    you are my strong refuge.^(O)
⁸My mouth^(P) is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendor^(Q) all day long.

⁹Do not cast^(R) me away when I am old;^(S)
    do not forsake^(T) me when my strength is gone.
¹⁰For my enemies^(U) speak against me;
    those who wait to kill^(V) me conspire^(W) together.
¹¹They say, “God has forsaken^(X) him;
    pursue him and seize him,
    for no one will rescue^(Y) him.”
¹²Do not be far^(Z) from me, my God;
    come quickly, God, to help^(AA) me.
¹³May my accusers^(AB) perish in shame;^(AC)
    may those who want to harm me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.^(AD)

¹⁴As for me, I will always have hope;^(AE)
I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵My mouth will tell^(AF) of your righteous deeds,^(AG)
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶I will come and proclaim your mighty acts,^(AH) Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷Since my youth, God, you have taught^(AI) me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.^(AJ)
¹⁸Even when I am old and gray,^(AK)
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power^(AL) to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.^(AM)

¹⁹Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,^(AN)
    you who have done great things.^(AO)
    Who is like you, God?^(AP)
²⁰Though you have made me see troubles,^(AQ)
    many and bitter,
    you will restore^(AR) my life again;
from the depths of the earth^(AS)
    you will again bring me up.
²¹You will increase my honor^(AT)
    and comfort^(AU) me once more.

²²I will praise you with the harp^(AV)
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,^(AW)
    Holy One of Israel.^(AX)
²³My lips will shout for joy^(AY)
    when I sing praise to you—
    I whom you have delivered.^(AZ)
²⁴My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,^(BA)
for those who wanted to harm me^(BB)
    have been put to shame and confusion.^(BC)