Exodus 23

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

You shall not raise a false report: put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

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 a multitude to do evil; neither shall you speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

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

Neither shall you countenance a poor man in his cause.

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

If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

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 ass of him that hates you lying under his burden, and would forbear to help him, you shall surely help with him.

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

You shall not wrest the judgment of your poor in his cause.

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

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

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

And you shall take no gift: for the gift blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.

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.

Also you shall not oppress a stranger: for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

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

And six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof:

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 the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with 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.

Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest: that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the stranger, 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.

And in all things that I have said to you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.

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

Three times you shall keep a feast to me in the year.

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 feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty: )

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.

And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.

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

Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD 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 offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the 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.

The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

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 send an Angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which 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.

Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for 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 shall indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.

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.

For my Angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

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 bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but you shall utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

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, and he shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from the middle of you.

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

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

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 fear before you, and will destroy all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

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

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

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 drive them out from before you in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against you.

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

By little and little I will drive them out from before you, until you be increased, and inherit 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.

And I will set your bounds from the Red sea even 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 shall drive them out before you.

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

You shall make no covenant 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 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.