Exodus 23
1 “Do not tell to others (false rumors/untrue reports) about other people. Do not help someone who is guilty by (testifying falsely/lying) [about what happened].
“You must not spread stories that are lies. You must not help bad people by giving evidence that's malicious.
2 Do not join a group of people who are planning to do something evil. Do not testify the way the [crowd wants you to], if that will prevent [the judge from deciding the case] justly/fairly.
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 When a poor person is on trial, do not [testify in] his favor [just] because he is poor [and you feel sorry for him].
Don't show favoritism to poor people in their legal cases either.
4 If you see someone’s bull or donkey when it is wandering away [loose], take it back to [its owner, even if the owner] is your enemy.
If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey that has wandered off, take it back it to him.
5 If you see someone’s donkey that has fallen down [because of its heavy load], help the owner to get the donkey up again, [even if] he is someone who hates you. Do not just walk away [without helping 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 Decide the cases of poor people who are on trial [as] fairly [as you decide the cases of other people].
You must not prevent the poor from getting justice in their lawsuits.
7 Do not accuse people falsely. Do not decide that innocent and righteous [DOU] people should be executed, because I will (punish/not forgive) people who do such an evil thing.
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 Do not accept money that is a bribe, because officials who accept bribes are not able to [MTY] decide what is right to do, and they do not allow innocent people to be treated fairly.
Don't accept bribes, for a bribe blinds those who can see, and undermines the evidence of the honest.
9 Do not mistreat foreigners [who live among you]. You know [how people often treat] foreigners, because the Egyptians [did not treat you well when] you were foreigners there.
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 Plant [seeds] in your ground and gather the harvest for six years.
Six years you are to sow your land and harvest crops,
11 But during the seventh year you must not plant anything. [If things grow without your planting seeds], allow poor people [to harvest and] eat the crops. If there are still crops (left over/that they do not harvest), allow wild animals to eat them. Do the same thing with your grapevines/vineyards and your olive trees.
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 [You may] work for six days [each week], but on the seventh day you must rest [and not work]. And on the seventh day you must allow your work animals and your slaves and the foreigners [who live among you] also [to rest and] be 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 Make certain that you obey everything that I have commanded [you to do]. Do not pray to [MTY] other gods. Do not even mention their names.”
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 “Every year you must celebrate three festivals to [honor] me.
Three times every year you are to celebrate a feast dedicated to me.
15 [The first one] is the Festival of Bread That Has No Yeast. Celebrate it in the month [that is named] Abib. That is the month in which you left Egypt. Celebrate it in the way that I commanded you. And always bring [LIT] an offering when you come to worship me.
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 The second one is the Festival of Harvesting. During that festival you must offer to me the first parts/harvest of your crops that grow from the seeds that you planted. The third one is the Festival of Living in Temporary Shelters. That will be after you finish harvesting your grain and grapes and fruit.
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 Every year, at each of these times, all the men must gather together to worship me, Yahweh God.
Every Israelite male is to come before the Lord God at these three times every year.
18 When you sacrifice an animal [and offer it] to me, you must not offer bread that has been baked with yeast. [When you] offer sacrifices, [burn] the fat [from the animals on that same day]. Do not allow any fat to remain until the next 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 Each year, when you harvest your crops, bring to the place where you worship me, Yahweh God, the first part of what you harvest. When you kill a (young animal/kid [or lamb or calf)], do not [prepare to eat it by] boiling it 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 “Note this: I am going to send an angel ahead of you, to guard you as you travel and to bring you safely to the place that I have prepared [for you]. Pay attention to what he says and obey him. Do not rebel against him, because he will have my authority [MTY] and he will (punish/not forgive) [LIT] you if you rebel against him.
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.
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 But if you pay attention to what he says and if you do all that I tell you [to do], I will fight strongly [DOU] against all of your enemies.
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 My angel will go ahead of you, and will take you to where the Amor and Heth and Periz and Canaan and Hiv and Jebus people-groups live, and I will completely get rid of them.
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 Do not bow down before their gods/idols or worship them. And do not do the things [that they think that their gods want] them to do. Completely destroy their gods/idols, and smash to pieces their sacred stones.
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 You must worship me, Yahweh God. [If you do that], I will bless your (OR, bless [you by giving you]) food and water, and I will protect you from becoming sick.
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 No women in your land will have (miscarriages/babies that will die after being born prematurely), and no women will be unable to become pregnant. And I will enable you to live a long time.
No woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will make sure you live long lives.
27 I will cause the people who oppose you to become very afraid of me. I will cause the people whom you fight against to become very confused. And then I will cause them to turn around and run away from 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 I will cause your enemies to become terrified. And I will expel the Hiv, Canaan, and Heth people-groups from your land.
I will send hornets ahead of you to drive out before you the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites.
29 I will not expel [all of] them in less than one year. If I did that, your land would become deserted, and there would be very many wild animals ([that would attack you/you would not be able to control]).
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 will expel those people-groups slowly, a few at a time, until the number of your people increases and you are able to live everywhere in 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 I will cause the borders of your land to extend from the (Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba) [in the southeast] to the Mediterranean Sea [in the northwest], and from the [Sinai] Desert [in the southwest] to the [Euphrates] River [in the northeast of the country]. I will enable you [MTY] to expel the people who live there, so that you will expel them as you occupy more of the country.
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 must not make any agreement/treaty with those people or with their gods.
You must not make any agreement with them or with their gods.
33 Do not allow [those people] to live in your land, in order that they do not cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, [you will not be able to escape from worshiping them and sinning against me, just like someone caught] in a trap [is unable to escape] [MET].”
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.”
