Exodus — Chapter 23

1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

3And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

5If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

6You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

11but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

12For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

13Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

14Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

15You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

16You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

18You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

22But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

25So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

26No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

27I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

28I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

29I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.

30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

1Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to

3Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

9Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

11But the seventh

12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

13And in all

14Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

16And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering,

17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

19The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name

22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

23For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

24Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

25And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

27I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

28And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

32Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

33They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

1Thou shalt not take up a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest [justice]:

3neither shalt thou favor a poor man in his cause.

4If thou meet thine enemy`s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, thou shalt forbear to leave him, thou shalt surely release [it] with him.

6Thou shalt not wrest the justice [due] to thy poor in his cause.

7Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8And thou shalt take no bribe: for a bribe blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

9And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress: for ye know the heart of a sojourner, seeing ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

10And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the increase thereof:

11but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard.

12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner, may be refreshed.

13And in all things that I have said unto you take ye heed: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

14Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty:

16and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field.

17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord Jehovah.

18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning.

19The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in it mother`s milk.

20Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

21Take ye heed before him, and hearken unto his voice; provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgression: for my name is in him.

22But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

23For mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: and I will cut them off.

24Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars.

25And ye shall serve Jehovah your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26There shall none cast her young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

27I will send my terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

28And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee.

30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31And I will set thy border from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand: and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

32Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

33They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

1“You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2“You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice,

3and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4“If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him.

5If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.

6“You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.

7Keep your distance from a false charge—do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.

8“You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

9“You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10“For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce.

11But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and the resident foreigner may refresh themselves.

13“Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods—do not let them be heard on your lips.

14“Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me.

15You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed.

16“You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.

17At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning.

19The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.

21Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my Name is in him.

22But if you diligently obey him and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries.

23For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.

24“You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.

25You must serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.

26No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

27“I will send my terror before you, and I will alarm all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

29I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you.

30Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land.

31I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32“You must make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

1“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.

3You 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.

5If 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,

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 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.

15You 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.

16And 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.

17Three 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.

19The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring 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.

21Pay 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.

22But 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.

23For 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.

24You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.

25You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

26No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

27I 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.

28I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.

29I 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.

30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.

31I 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.

32You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

33They 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.”