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 shall not raise a false report: put not your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

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;

You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shall you speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.

Neither shall you countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 'When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him;

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

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 ass of him that hates you lying under his burden, and would forbear to help him, you shall surely help with him.

6 'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;

You shall not wrest the judgment of your poor in his cause.

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.

Keep you far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay you not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8 'And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open -[eyed], and perverteth the words of the righteous.

And you shall take no gift: for the gift blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.

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.

Also you shall not oppress a stranger: for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10 'And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;

And six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof:

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 the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with your olive grove.

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;

Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest: that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

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.

And in all things that I have said to you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.

14 'Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year;

Three times you shall keep a feast to me in the year.

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 shall keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty: )

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.

And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field.

17 'Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.

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

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 shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the 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.

The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his 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;

Behold, I send an Angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

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;

Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

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.

But if you shall indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.

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 shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

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 shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but you shall utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

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;

And you shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from the middle of you.

26 there is not a miscarrying and barren one in thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:

There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in your land: the number of your days I will fulfill.

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 my fear before you, and will destroy all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28 'And I have sent the hornet before thee, and it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;

And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.

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 from before you in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against you.

30 little [by] little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.

By little and little I will drive them out from before you, until you be increased, and inherit 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;

And I will set your bounds from the Red sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and you shall drive them out before you.

32 thou dost not make a covenant with them, and with their gods;

You shall make no covenant with them, nor 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 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.