Exodus 23
1 'Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy 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 'Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou 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 a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.
Don't show favoritism to poor people in their legal cases either.
4 'When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost 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 thou seest the ass of him who is hating thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving [it] to it — thou dost 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 'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;
You must not prevent the poor from getting justice in their lawsuits.
7 from a false matter thou dost keep far off, and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; 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 a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open -[eyed], and perverteth 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 a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye — ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been 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 six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;
Six years you are to sow your land and harvest crops,
11 and the seventh thou dost release it, and hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard — to thine 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 thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine 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 unto you ye do take heed; and the name of other gods ye do not mention; it is not heard on thy 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 'Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year;
Three times every year you are to celebrate a feast dedicated to me.
15 the Feast of Unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out of Egypt, and ye 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 Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of thy works which thou sowest in the field; and the Feast of the In-Gathering, in the outgoing of the year, in thy gathering thy 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 do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.
Every Israelite male is to come before the Lord God at these three times every year.
18 'Thou dost not sacrifice on a fermented thing the blood of My sacrifice, and the fat of My festival doth not remain till 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 thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost 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 'Lo, I am sending a messenger before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in unto 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 hearken to his voice, rebel not against him, for he beareth not 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 thou diligently hearken to his voice, and hast done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with thine enemies, and have distressed those distressing thee.
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 goeth before thee, and hath brought thee in unto 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 'Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost 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 ye have served Jehovah your God, and He hath blessed thy bread and thy water, and I have turned aside sickness from thine 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 thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:
No woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will make sure you live long lives.
27 My terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee.
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 thee, and it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;
I will send hornets ahead of you to drive out before you the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites.
29 I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee;
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 cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast 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 thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee;
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 thou dost 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 thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against Me when thou servest their gods, when it becometh a snare to thee.'
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.”
