Beginning
22 If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep.
2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood shed for him.
3 But if the sun has risen [so he can be seen], blood must be shed for slaying him. The thief [if he lives] must make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
4 If the beast which he stole is found in his possession alive, whether it is ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double.
5 If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution of the best of his own field or his own vineyard.
6 If fire breaks out and catches so that the stacked grain or standing grain or the field be consumed, he who kindled the fire shall make full restitution.
7 If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to keep and it is stolen out of the neighbor’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
8 But if the thief is not found, the house owner shall appear before God [the judges as His agents] to find whether he stole his neighbor’s goods.
9 For every unlawful deed, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any lost thing at all, which another identifies as his, the cause of both parties shall come before God [the judges]. Whomever [they] shall condemn shall pay his neighbor double.
10 If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,
11 Then an oath before the Lord shall be required between the two that the man has not taken his neighbor’s property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make good the loss.
12 But if it is stolen when in his care, he shall make restitution to its owner.
13 If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn.
14 And if a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it gets hurt or dies without its owner being with it, the borrower shall make full restitution.
15 But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make it good. If it is a hired thing, the damage is included in its hire.
16 If a man seduces a virgin not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to become his wife.
17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equivalent to the dowry of virgins.
18 You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery.
19 Whoever lies carnally with a beast shall surely be put to death.
20 He who sacrifices to any god but the Lord only shall be utterly destroyed.
21 You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.
23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 And My wrath shall burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.
25 If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, neither shall you require interest from him.
26 If you ever take your neighbor’s garment in pledge, you shall give it back to him before the sun goes down;
27 For that is his only covering, his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? When he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious and merciful.
28 You shall not revile God [the judges as His agents] or esteem lightly or curse a ruler of your people.
29 You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them].(A)
30 Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
31 And you shall be holy men [consecrated] to Me; therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
23 You shall not repeat or raise a false report; you shall not join with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness at a trial so as to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
3 Neither shall you be partial to a poor man in his trial [just because he is poor].
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 one who hates you lying [helpless] under his load, you shall refrain from leaving the man to cope with it alone; you shall help him to release the animal.
6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his cause.
7 Keep far from a false matter and [be very careful] not to condemn to death the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the wicked.
8 You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
9 Also you shall not oppress a temporary resident, for you know the heart of a stranger and sojourner, seeing you were strangers and sojourners in Egypt.
10 Six years you shall sow your land and reap its yield.
11 But the seventh year you shall release it and let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat [what the land voluntarily yields], and what they leave the wild beasts shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and olive grove.
12 Six days you shall do your work, but the seventh day you shall rest and keep Sabbath, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your bondwoman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
13 In all I have said to you take heed; do not mention the name of other gods [either in blessing or cursing]; do not let such speech be heard from your mouth.
14 Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me.
15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
16 Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread [but keep it unmixed], neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until morning.
19 The first of the firstfruits 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.
20 Behold, I send an [a]Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
21 Give heed to Him, listen to and obey His voice; be not rebellious before Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression; for My [b]Name is in Him.(B)
22 But if you will indeed listen to and obey His voice and all that I speak, 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 to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them and blot them out,
24 You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars and images.
25 You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst.
26 None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send My terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your foes turn from you [in flight].
28 And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the 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 [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and are numerous enough to take possession of the land.
31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; 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.
24 God said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu [Aaron’s sons], and seventy of Israel’s elders, and worship at a distance.
2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; the others shall not come near, and neither shall the people come up with him.
3 Moses came and told the people all that the Lord had said and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.
4 Moses [c]wrote all the words of the Lord. He rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve pillars representing Israel’s twelve tribes.
5 And he sent young Israelite men, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.
6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.
8 And Moses took the [remaining half of the] blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.(C)
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up [the mountainside].
10 And they saw the God of Israel [that is, a convincing manifestation of His presence], and under His feet it was like pavement of bright sapphire stone, like the very heavens in clearness.(D)
11 And upon the nobles of the Israelites He laid not His hand [to conceal Himself from them, to rebuke their daring, or to harm them]; but they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank.(E)
12 And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to Me into the mountain and be there, and I will give you tables of stone, with the law and the commandments which [d]I have written that you may teach them.(F)
13 So Moses rose up with Joshua his attendant; and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
14 And he said to the elders, Tarry here for us until we come back to you; remember, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them.
15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day [God] called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.
18 Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and nights.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation