Exodus 23

1 You must not give a false report about anyone. Do not join with a wicked man to be a dishonest witness.

You shall not receive a vain report: you shall not agree with the unjust [man] to become an unjust witness.

2 You must not follow a crowd to do evil, nor may you bear witness while siding with the crowd in order to pervert justice.

You shall not associate with the multitude for evil; you shall not join yourself with a multitude to turn aside with the majority so as to shut out judgment.

3 You must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

And you shall not spare a poor man in judgment.

4 If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you must bring it back to him.

And if you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray, you shall turn them back and restore them to him.

5 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.

And if you see your enemy's ass fallen under its burden, you shall not pass by it, but shall help to raise it with him.

6 Do not thrust aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit.

You shall not wrest the sentence of the poor in his judgment.

7 Do not join others in making false accusations, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

You shall abstain from every unjust thing: you shall not kill the innocent and just, and you shall not justify the wicked for gifts.

8 Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see, and perverts honest people's words.

And you shall not receive gifts; for gifts blind the eyes of the seeing, and corrupt just words.

9 You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

And you shall not afflict a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger; for you were yourselves strangers in the land of Egypt.

10 For six years you will sow seed on your land and gather in its produce.

Six years you shall sow your land, and gather in the fruits of it.

11 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.

But in the seventh year you shall let it rest, and leave it, and the poor of your nation shall feed; and the wild beasts of the field shall eat that which remains: thus shall you do to your vineyard and to your oliveyard.

12 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.

Six days shall you do your works, and on the seventh day there shall be rest, that your ox and your ass may rest, and that the son of your maidservant and the stranger may be refreshed.

13 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.

Observe all things whatever I have commanded you; and you shall make no mention of the name of other gods, neither shall they be heard out of your mouth.

14 You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every year.

Keep you a feast to me three times in the year.

15 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.

Take heed to keep the feast of unleavened bread: seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I charged you at the season of the month of new [corn], for in it you came out of Egypt: you shall not appear before me empty.

16 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.

And you shall keep the feast of the harvest of first fruits of your labors, whatever you shall have sown in your field, and the feast of completion at the end of the year in the gathering in of your fruits out of your field.

17 All your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh three times every year.

Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord your God.

18 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.

For when I shall have cast out the nations from before you, and shall have widened your borders, you shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, neither must the fat of my feast abide till the morning.

19 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.

You shall bring the first-offerings of the first fruits of your land into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not seethe a lamb in its mother's milk.

20 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.

And, behold, I send my angel before your face, that he may keep you in the way, that he may bring you into the land which I have prepared for you.

21 Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions. My name is on him.

Take heed to yourself and listen to him, and disobey him not; for he will not give way to you, for my name is on him.

22 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.

If you will indeed hear my voice, and if you will do all the things I shall charge you with, and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations, for the whole earth is mine; and you shall be to me a royal priesthood, and a holy nation: these words shall you speak to the children of Israel, If you shall indeed hear my voice, and do all the things I shall tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. I will destroy them.

For my angel shall go as your leader, and shall bring you to the Amorite, and Chettite, and Pherezite, and Chananite, and Gergesite, and Evite, and Jebusite, and I will destroy them.

24 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.

You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them: you shall not do according to their works, but shall utterly destroy them, and break to pieces their pillars.

25 You must worship Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and water. I will remove sickness from among you.

And you shall serve the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your wine and your water, and I will turn away sickness from you.

26 No woman will be barren or will miscarry her young in your land. I will give you long lives.

There shall not be on your land one that is impotent or barren. I will surely fulfil the number of your days.

27 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.

And I will send terror before you, and I will strike with amazement all the nations to which you shall come, and I will make all your enemies to flee.

28 I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.

And I will send hornets before you, and you shall cast out the Amorites and the Evites, and the Chananites and the Chettites from you.

29 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.

I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against you.

30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little from before you until you become fruitful and inherit the land.

By little [and little] I will cast them out from before you, until you shall be increased and inherit the earth.

31 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.

And I will set your borders from the Red Sea, to the sea of the Phylistines, and from the wilderness to the great river Euphrates; and I will give into your hand those that dwell in the land, and will cast them out from you.

32 You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.

33 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.'”

And they shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me; for if you should serve their gods, these will be an offense to you.