Exodus 23

1 Thou shalt not receive the voice of a lie: neither shalt thou join thy hand to bear false witness for a wicked person.

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

2 Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil: neither shalt thou yield in judgment, to the opinion of the most part, to stray from the truth.

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

3 Neither shalt thou favour a poor man in judgment.

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

4 If thou meet thy enemy’s ox or ass going astray, bring it back to him.

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

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lie underneath his burden, thou shalt not pass by, but shalt lift him up with him.

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.

6 Thou shalt not go aside in the poor man’s judgment.

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

7 Thou shalt fly lying. The innocent and just person thou shalt not put to death: because I abhor the wicked.

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

8 Neither shalt thou take bribes, which even blind the wise, and pervert the words of the just.

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

9 Thou shalt not molest a stranger, for you know the hearts of strangers: for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

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.

10 Six years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the corn thereof.

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

11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it alone, and suffer it to rest, that the poor of thy people may eat, and whatsoever shall be left, let the beasts of the field eat it: so shalt thou do with thy vineyard and thy oliveyard.

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.

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

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.

13 Keep all things that I have said to you. And by the name of strange gods you shall not swear, neither shall it be heard out of your mouth.

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.

14 Three times every year you shall celebrate feasts to me.

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

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month of new corn, when thou didst come forth out of Egypt: thou shalt not appear empty before me.

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.

16 And the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of thy work, whatsoever thou hast sown in the field. The feast also in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in all thy corn out of the field.

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.

17 Thrice a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.

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

18 Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of my victim upon leaven, neither shall the fat of my solemnity remain until the morning.

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

19 Thou shalt carry the firstfruits of the corn of thy ground to the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

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.

20 Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared.

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

21 Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned: for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my name is in him.

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.

22 But if thou wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee.

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.

23 And my angel shall go before thee, and shall bring thee in unto the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, whom I will destroy.

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.

24 Thou shalt not adore their gods, nor serve them. Thou shalt not do their works, but shalt destroy them, and break their statues.

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.

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

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.

26 There shall not be one fruitless nor barren in thy land: I will fill the number of thy days.

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

27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come: and will turn the backs of all thy enemies before thee.

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.

28 Sending out hornets before, that shall drive away the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, before thou come in.

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

29 I will not cast them out from thy face in one year: lest the land be brought into a wilderness, and the beasts multiply against thee.

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.

30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, till thou be increased, and dost possess the land.

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

31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Palestines, and from the desert to the river: I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hands, and will drive them out from before you.

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.

32 Thou shalt not enter into league with them, nor with their gods.

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

33 Let them not dwell in thy land, lest perhaps thy make thee sin against me, if thou serve their god: which undoubtedly will be a scandal to thee.

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.”