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 do not lift up a vain report; you do not put your hand with a wicked man to be a violent 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 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;

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

and you do not honor a poor man in his strife.

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

When you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you certainly turn it back 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.

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.

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

You do not turn aside the judgment of your poor in his strife;

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 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.

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

And you do not take a bribe, for the bribe binds the open-[eyed] and perverts the words of the righteous.

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 do not oppress a sojourner, since you have known the soul of the sojourner, for you have been sojourners in the land of Egypt.

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

And [for] six years you sow your land and have gathered its increase;

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.

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.

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 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;

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.

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.

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

You keep a celebration to Me three times in a 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.

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);

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 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.

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

Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.

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.

You do not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice on a fermented thing, and the fat of My festival does not remain until 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.

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.

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.

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;

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

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;

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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;

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

there is not a miscarrying and barren one in your land; I fulfill 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.

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.

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

And I have sent the hornet before you, and it has cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before 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 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;

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

I cast them out little [by] little from before you, until you are fruitful, and have inherited the land.

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 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.

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

You do not make a covenant with them and with 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.'”

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.”