Exodus 23
1 You do not lift up a vain report; you do not put your hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.
“You must not spread stories that are lies. You must not help bad people by giving evidence that's malicious.
2 You are not after many to [do] evil, nor do you testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause [others] to turn aside;
Don't follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give evidence in a lawsuit, don't corrupt justice by siding with the majority.
3 and you do not honor a poor man in his strife.
Don't show favoritism to poor people in their legal cases either.
4 When you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you certainly turn it back to him;
If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey that has wandered off, take it back it to him.
5 when you see the donkey of him who is hating you crouching under its burden, then you have ceased from leaving [it] to it—you certainly leave [it] with him.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you that has fallen under its load, don't just leave it there. You must stop and help.
6 You do not turn aside the judgment of your poor in his strife;
You must not prevent the poor from getting justice in their lawsuits.
7 you keep far off from a false matter, and you do not slay an innocent and righteous man; for I do not justify a wicked man.
Don't have anything to do with making false accusations. Don't kill the innocent or those who do right, for I won't let the guilty go unpunished.
8 And you do not take a bribe, for the bribe binds the open-[eyed] and perverts the words of the righteous.
Don't accept bribes, for a bribe blinds those who can see, and undermines the evidence of the honest.
9 And you do not oppress a sojourner, since you have known the soul of the sojourner, for you have been sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Don't abuse foreigners living among you, since you know very well what it's like to be foreigners, for you were once foreigners in Egypt.
10 And [for] six years you sow your land and have gathered its increase;
Six years you are to sow your land and harvest crops,
11 and [in] the seventh you release it, and have left it, and the needy of your people have eaten, and the beast of the field eats their remainder; so you do to your vineyard [and] to your olive-yard.
but in the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that poor people may eat what grows naturally from the field and the wild animals can finish what's left. Follow the same procedure for your vineyards and olive groves.
12 Six days you do your work, and on the seventh day you rest, so that your ox and your donkey rest, and the son of your handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;
You have six days to do your work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, so that your ox and your donkey can rest, and your slaves' families can catch their breath, as well as the foreigners living among you.
13 and in all that which I have said to you—take heed; and you do not mention the name of other gods; it is not heard on your mouth.
Make sure to pay attention to everything I've told you. Don't think to call on the names of other gods—you must not even mention them.
14 You keep a celebration to Me three times in a year:
Three times every year you are to celebrate a feast dedicated to me.
15 you keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things (you eat unleavened things [for] seven days as I have commanded you, at the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it you have come forth out of Egypt, and you do not appear [in] My presence empty);
You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread as I instructed you. You are to eat bread without yeast for seven days at the appropriate time in the month of Abib, because that was the month you left Egypt. No one can come before me without bringing an offering.
16 and the Celebration of Harvest, the first-fruits of your works which you sow in the field; and the Celebration of the Ingathering in the outgoing of the year, in your gathering your works out of the field.
You are also to observe the Festival of Harvest when you present the firstfruits of the produce from what you've sown in the fields. Lastly you are to observe the Festival of Gathering-In the Harvest at the end of the year, when you gather in the harvest of the rest of your crops from the field.
17 Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.
Every Israelite male is to come before the Lord God at these three times every year.
18 You do not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice on a fermented thing, and the fat of My festival does not remain until morning;
You must not offer the blood of my sacrifices together with anything that contains yeast, and the fat from the offerings presented at my festival must not be left until morning.
19 the beginning of the first-fruits of your ground you bring into the house of your God YHWH; you do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
Bring the best firstfruits of your crops to the house of the Lord your God. Don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
20 Behold, I am sending a Messenger before you to keep you in the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared;
Look, I'm sending an angel ahead of you to protect you on the way and to take you to the place I've prepared for you.
21 be watchful because of His presence, and listen to His voice, do not rebel against Him, for He does not bear with your transgression, for My Name [is] in His heart;
Make sure you pay attention to him and do what he says. Don't oppose him, because he won't forgive rebellion, for he carries my authority.
22 for if you listen diligently to His voice, and have done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with your enemies, and have distressed those distressing you.
However, if you listen to him carefully, and do everything that I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and I will fight those who fight against you.
23 For My Messenger goes before you, and has brought you to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I have cut them off.
For my angel will go ahead of you and take you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.
24 You do not bow yourself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but utterly devote them, and thoroughly break their standing pillars.
You must not bow down to their gods or worship them or follow their pagan practices. No, you must demolish their idols and smash their sacred pillars into pieces.
25 And you have served your God YHWH, and He has blessed your bread and your water, and I have turned aside sickness from your heart;
You are to worship the Lord your God, and he will bless your food and water. I will make sure none of you fall sick.
26 there is not a miscarrying and barren one in your land; I fulfill the number of your days.
No woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will make sure you live long lives.
27 I send My terror before you, and I have put to death all the people among whom you come, and I have given the neck of all your enemies to you.
I will send terror about me ahead of you which will throw every nation you meet into panic. I will make all your enemies turn and run away.
28 And I have sent the hornet before you, and it has cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you;
I will send hornets ahead of you to drive out before you the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites.
29 I do not cast them out from before you in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field has multiplied against you;
I will not drive them out in just one year, because the land would become desolate and you would have to deal with increased numbers of wild animals.
30 I cast them out little [by] little from before you, until you are fruitful, and have inherited the land.
Bit by bit I will drive them out ahead of you, until there are enough of you to take possession of the land.
31 And I have set your border from the Red Sea, even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you have cast them out from before you.
I will fix your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out.
32 You do not make a covenant with them and with their gods;
You must not make any agreement with them or with their gods.
33 they do not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me when you serve their gods, when it becomes a snare to you.”
They must not be allowed to stay in your land, otherwise they will lead you to sin against me. For if you worship their gods, they will definitely become a trap for you.”
