Exodus 23

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

“You shall not accept a lying voice. Neither shall you join your hand so as to give false testimony on behalf of the impious.

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

You shall not follow the crowd in doing evil. Neither shall you go astray in judgment, by agreeing with the majority opinion, apart from the truth.

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

Likewise, you shall not show pity in judgment of the poor.

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

If you come across an ox or a donkey of your enemy, which has gone astray, lead it back to him.

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

If you see the donkey of one who hates you, fallen under its burden, you shall not pass by without lifting it up with him.

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

You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.

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

You shall flee from lies. The innocent and the just you shall not kill. For I shun the impious.

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

Neither shall you accept bribes, which blind even the prudent and subvert the words of the just.

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

You shall not harass a sojourner, for you know the life of a newcomer. For you yourselves also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

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

For six years, you shall sow your land and gather its produce.

11 but 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.

But in the seventh year, you shall release it and cause it to rest, so that the poor of your people may eat. And whatever remains, let the beasts of the field eat it. So shall you do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 For 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.

For six days, you shall work. On the seventh day, you shall cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the newcomer and the son of your handmaid may be refreshed.

13 Pay 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.

Preserve all that I have said to you. And by the names of foreign gods you shall not swear; neither shall these be heard from your mouth.

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

Three times in each year, you shall celebrate feasts to me.

15 You 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.

You shall keep the solemnity of unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, just as I instructed you, at the time of the month of new grain, when you departed from Egypt. You shall not appear empty-handed in my sight,

16 You 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.

for it is the solemnity of the harvest of the first-fruits of your work, of whatever you have sown in the field. Likewise, it is a solemnity at the end of the season, when you will have gathered in all your crops from the field.

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

Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.

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

You shall not immolate the blood of my victim over leaven, nor shall the fat of my solemnity remain until morning.

19 Bring 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.

You shall carry the first grain of the land to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a young goat in the milk of its mother.

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

Behold, I will send my Angel, who will go before you, and preserve you on your journey, and lead you into the place that I have prepared.

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

Heed him, and hear his voice, and do not hold him in disregard. For he will not release you when you have sinned, and my name is in him.

22 But 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.

But if you listen to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will afflict those who afflict you.

23 For 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.

And my Angel will go before you, and he will bring you to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, whom I will crush.

24 You 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.

You shall not adore their gods, nor worship them. You shall not do their works, but you shall destroy them and break apart their statues.

25 So 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.

And you shall serve the Lord your God, so that I may bless your bread and your waters, and so that I may take away sickness from your midst.

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

There will not be fruitless or barren ones in your land. I will fill up the number of your days.

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

I will send my terror to run ahead of you, and I will kill all the people to whom you will enter. And I will turn the backs of all your enemies before you,

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

sending wasps ahead, so that they will put to flight the Hivite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, before you enter.

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

I will not cast them out from your face in one year, lest the land be reduced to a wilderness and the wild beasts increase against you.

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

I will expel them little by little from your sight, until you have expanded and may possess the land.

31 And 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.

Then I will set your limits to be from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Palestinians, and from the desert all the way to the river. I will deliver into your hands the inhabitants of the land, and I will cast them out from your sight.

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

You shall not enter into a pact with them, nor with their gods.

33 They 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.”

They may not live on your land, lest perhaps they may cause you to sin against me, if you serve their gods, which certainly would be a temptation for you.”