Exodus 23
1 Thou shalt not receiue a false tale, neyther shalt thou put thine hande with the wicked, to be a false witnes.
“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 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do euil, neither agree in a controuersie to decline after many and ouerthrowe the trueth.
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 Thou shalt not esteeme a poore man in his cause.
Likewise, you shall not show pity in judgment of the poor.
4 If thou meete thine enemies oxe, or his asse going astray, thou shalt bring him to him againe.
If you come across an ox or a donkey of your enemy, which has gone astray, lead it back to him.
5 If thou see thine enemies asse lying vnder his burden, wilt thou cease to helpe him? thou shalt helpe him vp againe 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 Thou shalt not ouerthrowe the right of thy poore in his sute.
You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.
7 Thou shalt keepe thee farre from a false matter, and shalt not slaye the innocent and the righteous: for I will not iustifie a wicked man.
You shall flee from lies. The innocent and the just you shall not kill. For I shun the impious.
8 Thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and peruerteth the wordes of the righteous.
Neither shall you accept bribes, which blind even the prudent and subvert the words of the just.
9 Thou shalt not oppresse a stranger: for ye knowe the heart of a stranger, seeing yee were strangers 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 Moreouer, sixe yeres thou shalt sowe thy land, and gather the fruites thereof,
For six years, you shall sow your land and gather its produce.
11 But the seuenth yeere thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poore of thy people may eat, and what they leaue, the beastes of the fielde shall eate. In like maner thou shalt doe with thy vineyard, and with thine oliue trees.
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 Sixe dayes thou shalt do thy worke, and in the seuenth day thou shalt rest, that thine oxe, and thine asse may rest, and the sonne of thy maide and the stranger may be refreshed.
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 And ye shall take heede to all things that I haue sayde vnto you: and ye shall make no mention of the name of other gods, neither shall it be heard out of thy mouth.
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 thou shalt keepe a feast vnto me in the yeere.
Three times in each year, you shall celebrate feasts to me.
15 Thou shalt keepe the feast of vnleauened bread: thou shalt eate vnleauened bread seue dayes, as I commanded thee, in the season of the moneth of Abib: for in it thou camest out of Egypt: and none shall appeare before me emptie:
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 The feast also of the haruest of the first fruites of thy labours, which thou hast sowen in the fielde: and the feast of gathering fruites in the ende of the yere, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the fielde.
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 These three times in the yeere shall all thy men children appeare before the Lord Iehouah.
Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leauened bread: neyther shall the fatte of my sacrifice remayne vntill the morning.
You shall not immolate the blood of my victim over leaven, nor shall the fat of my solemnity remain until morning.
19 The first of the first fruites of thy lande thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God: yet shalt thou not seeth a kid in his mothers milke.
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 send an Angel before thee, to keepe thee in the way, and to bring thee to the place which I haue 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 Beware of him, and heare his voyce, and prouoke him not: for he will not spare your misdeedes, because 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 thou hearken vnto his voyce, and do all that I speake, the I wil be an enemie vnto thine enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee.
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 mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee vnto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, and I will destroy 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 Thou shalt not bow downe to their gods, neither serue them, nor doe after the workes of them: but vtterly ouerthrowe them, and breake in pieces their images.
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 For ye shall serue the Lord your God, and he shall blesse thy bread and thy water, and I will take all sickenes away from the middes of thee.
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 There shall none cast their fruite nor be baren in thy lande: the number of thy dayes will I fulfill.
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 feare before thee, and will destroy all the people among whome thou shalt go: and I will make all thine enemies turne their backes vnto thee:
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 And I will sende hornets before thee, which shall driue out the Hiuites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from thy face.
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 cast them out from thy face in one yeere, least the land grow to a wildernes: and the beasts of the field multiplie against thee.
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 By litle and litle I will driue them out from thy face, vntill thou increase, and inherite the lande.
I will expel them little by little from your sight, until you have expanded and may possess the land.
31 And I will make thy coastes from the red sea vnto the sea of the Philistims, and from the desert vnto the Riuer: for I will deliuer the inhabitants of the lande into your hande, and thou shalt driue them out from thy face.
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 Thou shalt make no couenant with them, nor with their gods:
You shall not enter into a pact with them, nor with their gods.
33 Neither shall they dwell in thy lande, least they make thee sinne against me: for if thou serue their gods, surely it shall be thy destruction.
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.”
