Exodus 23
1 Thou shalt not receive a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
You must not give a false report about anyone. Do not join with a wicked man to be a dishonest witness.
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause, to incline after many, to wrest judgment.
You must not follow a crowd to do evil, nor may you bear witness while siding with the crowd in order to pervert justice.
3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
You must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 If thou meet thy enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you must bring it back to him.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to unload him, [thou must not do so, but] thou shalt surely unload with him.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen to the ground under its load, you must not leave that person. You must surely help him with his donkey.
6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Do not thrust aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit.
7 Keep thyself far from a false speech; and him who hath been declared innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay; for I will not justify the wicked.
Do not join others in making false accusations, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
8 And thou shalt take no bribe; for the bribe blindeth the clear-sighted, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see, and perverts honest people's words.
9 And a stranger shalt thou not oppress; for ye know well the spirit of the stranger, seeing ye yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt.
You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
10 And six years shalt thou sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof;
For six years you will sow seed on your land and gather in its produce.
11 But the seventh year shalt thou let it rest and lie still; that the needy of thy people may eat [of it]; and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat: in like manner shalt thou deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive tree.
But in the seventh year you will leave it unplowed and fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave, the wild animals will eat. You will do the same with your vineyards and olive orchards.
12 Six days shalt thou do thy work, and on the seventh day shalt thou rest; that thy ox and thy ass may repose, and the son of thy hand-maid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
During six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest. Do this so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and so that your female slave's son and any foreigner may rest and be refreshed.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you be on your guard; and of the name of other gods ye shall make no mention, it shall not be heard out of thy mouth.
Pay attention to everything that I have said to you. Do not mention the names of other gods, nor let their names be heard from your mouth.
14 Three times shalt thou keep a feast unto me in the year.
You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every year.
15 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month of Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty.
You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you will eat unleavened bread for seven days. At that time, you will appear before me in the month of Aviv, which is fixed for this purpose. It was in this month that you came out from Egypt. But you must not appear before me empty-handed.
16 And the feast of harvest, of the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in thy field: and the feast of ingathering, at the conclusion of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field.
You must observe the Festival of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors when you sowed seed in the fields. Also you must observe the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your produce from the fields.
17 Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord, the Eternal.
All your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh three times every year.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my festive sacrifice remain until morning.
You must not offer the blood from sacrifices made to me with bread containing yeast. The fat from the sacrifices at my festivals must not remain all night until the morning.
19 The first of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.
You must bring the choicest firstfruits from your land into my house, the house of Yahweh your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
20 Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee on the way, and to bring thee unto the place which I have prepared.
I am going to send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, disobey him not; for he will not pardon your transgression, because my name is in him.
Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions. My name is on him.
22 But if thou wilt carefully hearken to his voice, and do all that I shall speak: then will I be an enemy unto thy enemies, and afflict those that afflict thee.
If you indeed obey his voice and do everything that I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 For my angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Emorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.
My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. I will destroy them.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their deeds; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and completely break down their statuary images.
You must not bow down to their gods, worship them, or do as they do. Instead, you must completely overthrow them and smash their stone pillars in pieces.
25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will remove sickness from the midst of thee.
You must worship Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and water. I will remove sickness from among you.
26 There shall be no one casting her children, nor a barren woman, in thy land; the number of thy days I will make full.
No woman will be barren or will miscarry her young in your land. I will give you long lives.
27 My terror will I send before thee, and will bring in confusion all the people to which thou shalt come; and I will make all thy enemies turn their back unto thee.
I will send fear of myself on those into whose land you advance. I will kill all the people whom you meet. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in fright.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, and they shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
29 I 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.
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, or the land would become abandoned, and the wild animals would become too many for you.
30 Little by little will I drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and canst possess the land.
Instead, I will drive them out little by little from before you until you become fruitful and inherit the land.
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
I will fix your borders from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will give you victory over the land's inhabitants. You will drive them out before yourselves.
32 Thou shalt not make a covenant with them, nor with their gods.
You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against me; for thou mightest [be led to] serve their gods, and this would surely be a snare unto thee.
They must not live in your land, or they would make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, this will surely become a trap for you.'”
