Old/New Testament

Different Laws

23 “Do not tell a lie about someone else. Do not join with the sinful to say something that will hurt someone. ² Do not follow many people in doing wrong. When telling what you know in a trial, do not agree with many people by saying what is not true. ³ And do not show favor to a poor man when he has a problem.

⁴ “If you meet a bull or donkey that belongs to a man who hates you, be sure to return the animal to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you falling under its load, do not leave the problem to him. Help him to free the animal. ⁶ Do not keep from doing what is right and fair in trying to help a poor brother when he has a problem. ⁷ Do not lie against someone. And do not kill those who are right and good or those who are not guilty. For I will not free the guilty. ⁸ Do not take pay in secret for wrong-doing. For such pay blinds the one who sees well and destroys the words of a good man. ⁹ Do not make it hard for a stranger because you know how a stranger feels. You were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Seventh Year and Seventh Day

¹⁰ “You will plant seeds in your land for six years, and gather the grain. ¹¹ But in the seventh year you will let the land rest without planting. So your people who are in need may eat. Whatever they leave, the animals may eat. You are to do the same with your grape-fields and olive trees. ¹² You will work six days and rest on the seventh day. So your bull and your donkey may rest. And the son of your female servant, and the stranger, may get their strength again. ¹³ Be careful to do all I have said to you. Never speak the name of other gods. Do not let them be heard from your mouth.

Three Great Suppers

¹⁴ “Three times a year you will have a special supper to honor Me. ¹⁵ You will have the special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread without yeast at the time I tell you in the month of Abib. For you came out of Egypt during this month. And no one will come before Me with nothing in his hands. ¹⁶ You will have the special supper of the gathering time of the first-fruits of your work, of all you plant in the field. And you will have the special supper of gathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your work from the field. ¹⁷ Three times a year all your males will come before the Lord God.

¹⁸ “Do not give the blood of My gift of worship with bread made with yeast. And the fat of My special supper is not to be kept all night until morning. ¹⁹ Bring the best first-fruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil the meat of a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel and the Promises

²⁰ “See, I am sending an angel before you to keep you safe on the way. He will bring you to the place I have made ready. ²¹ Listen to him and obey his voice. Do not turn against him, for he will not forgive your sins, because My name is in him. ²² But if you obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will hate those who hate you and fight against those who fight against you. ²³ 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 destroy them. ²⁴ Do not worship their gods, or serve them, or act like them. But you are to destroy them and break their pillars of worship to pieces. ²⁵ Serve the Lord your God and He will give you bread and water. And I will take sickness from among you. ²⁶ Women in your land will not lose their babies before they are born, and will be able to give birth. I will give you a full life. ²⁷ I will send My fear before you. The people you meet will be afraid. And I will make all those who hate you run away from you. ²⁸ I will send hornets before you. They will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites before you come. ²⁹ I will not move them out of your way in one year. So the land will not become a waste, and the animals of the field become too many for you. ³⁰ I will drive them out a few at a time, until you become many and take the land for your own. ³¹ I will give you the land from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. For I will give you power over the people of the land. And you will drive them away from you. ³² Make no agreement with them or their gods. ³³ They are not to live in your land, or they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, for sure it will be a trap to you.”

Israel Agrees

24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the leaders of Israel and worship from far away. ² But Moses alone may come near the Lord. The others should not come near and should not come up with him.”

³ Moses came and told the people all the Lord said and all the Laws. All the people answered with one voice, saying, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” ⁴ Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve families of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young men of Israel, who gave burnt gifts and killed young bulls as gifts of peace given in worship to the Lord. ⁶ Moses took half of the blood and put it in pots. The other half of the blood he put upon the altar. ⁷ Then he took the Book of the Agreement and read it for the people to hear. They said, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken. We will obey.” ⁸ So Moses took the blood and put some on the people. He said, “See, the blood of the agreement, which the Lord has made with you in these words.”

⁹ Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the leaders of Israel. ¹⁰ And they saw the God of Israel. The ground under His feet looked like sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ He did not let His hand come against the leaders of Israel. But they saw God, and ate and drank.

Moses on Mount Sinai

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there. I will give you the pieces of stone with the Law which I have written for you to teach the people.” ¹³ Then Moses got up with his helper Joshua, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. ¹⁴ He said to the leaders, “Wait here until we return to you. See, Aaron and Hur are with you. Let whoever has a problem go to them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up on the mountain, which was covered with a cloud. ¹⁶ The shining-greatness of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. ¹⁷ To the people of Israel, the shining-greatness of the Lord looked like a fire that destroys on the mountain top. ¹⁸ Moses went into the cloud as he went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

The Picture-Story of the Workmen in the Grape-Field

20 “For the holy nation of heaven is like the owner of a grape-field. He went out early in the morning to hire workmen to work in his grape-field. ² He promised to give them a day’s pay and then sent them to his grape-field. ³ Later in the morning he went to the center of the town where people gather. He saw men standing there doing nothing. ⁴ He said to them, ‘You go to my grape-field and work also. Whatever is right, I will pay you.’ And they went. ⁵ Again he went out about noon and at three o’clock and did the same thing. ⁶ About five o’clock he went out and still found others doing nothing. He asked them, ‘Why do you stand here all day and do nothing?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said, ‘Go to my grape-field and work. Whatever is right, I will pay you.’

⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the grape-field said to the boss of the workmen, ‘Call the workmen. Give them their pay. Start with the last ones hired and go on to the first ones hired.’ ⁹ The workmen who had been hired at five o’clock came up. Each one of them got a day’s pay for his work. ¹⁰ When the workmen who had been hired the first thing in the morning came, they thought they would get more. But each one got a day’s pay. ¹¹ After they received it, they talked against the owner. ¹² They said, ‘The last workmen hired have only worked one hour. You have given to them the same as to us. We have worked hard through the heat of the day.’ ¹³ But he said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me when I promised to pay you a day’s pay? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the last ones hired the same as I have given you. ¹⁵ Do I not have the right to do what I want to do with my own money? Does your eye make you want more because I am good?’ ¹⁶ So those who are last will be first and the first will be last.”