Exodus 23

1 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

“You must not spread stories that are lies. You must not help bad people by giving evidence that's malicious.

2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.

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 You shall not favour a poor man in his cause.

Don't show favoritism to poor people in their legal cases either.

4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey that has wandered off, take it back it to him.

5 If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.

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 shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

You must not prevent the poor from getting justice in their lawsuits.

7 “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.

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 “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight 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 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens 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 “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,

Six years you are to sow your land and harvest crops,

11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.

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 shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may 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 “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of 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 shall observe a feast to me three times a year.

Three times every year you are to celebrate a feast dedicated to me.

15 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me 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 feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labours, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labours 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 the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Every Israelite male is to come before the Lord God at these three times every year.

18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the 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 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat 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 send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into 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 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.

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 indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.

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 angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will 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 shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their 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 You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from amongst you.

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 one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfil 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 will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs 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 I will send the hornet before you, which will drive 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 will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply 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 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit 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 set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out 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 shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

You must not make any agreement with them or with their gods.

33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be 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.”