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 give a false report about anyone. Do not join with a wicked man to be a dishonest 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 must not follow a crowd to do evil, nor may you bear witness while siding with the crowd in order to pervert justice.
3 and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.
You must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
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 donkey going astray, you must bring it back 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 fallen to the ground under its load, you must not leave that person. You must surely help him with his donkey.
6 'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;
Do not thrust aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit.
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.
Do not join others in making false accusations, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
8 'And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open -[eyed], and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see, and perverts honest people's words.
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.
You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
10 'And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;
For six years you will sow seed on your land and gather in its produce.
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 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.
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;
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.
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.
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.
14 'Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year;
You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every 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 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.
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 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.
17 'Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.
All your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh 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 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.
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.
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.
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;
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.
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;
Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions. My name is on 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.
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.
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.
My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. I will destroy them.
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, worship them, or do as they do. Instead, you must completely overthrow them and smash their stone pillars in 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 must worship Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and water. I will remove sickness from among you.
26 there is not a miscarrying and barren one in thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:
No woman will be barren or will miscarry her young in your land. I will give you 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 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.
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 before you that will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites 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, or the land would become abandoned, and the wild animals would become too many for you.
30 little [by] little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.
Instead, I will drive them out little by little from before you until you become fruitful 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;
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.
32 thou dost not make a covenant with them, and with their gods;
You must not make a covenant 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 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.'”
