< Exodus 23 >

1 Non suscipies vocem mendacii: nec iunges manum tuam ut pro impio dicas falsum testimonium.
“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 Non sequeris turbam ad faciendum malum: nec in iudicio, plurimorum acquiesces sententiæ, ut a vero devies.
“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
3 Pauperis quoque non misereberis in iudicio.
You shall not favour a poor man in his cause.
4 Si occurreris bovi inimici tui, aut asino erranti, reduc ad eum.
“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
5 Si videris asinum odientis te iacere sub onere, non pertransibis, sed sublevabis cum eo.
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.
6 Non declinabis in iudicium pauperis.
“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 Mendacium fugies. Insontem et iustum non occides: quia aversor impium.
“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
8 Nec accipies munera, quæ etiam excæcant prudentes, et subvertunt verba iustorum.
“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 Peregrino molestus non eris. scitis enim advenarum animas: quia et ipsi peregrini fuistis in Terra Ægypti.
“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
10 Sex annis seminabis terram tuam, et congregabis fruges eius.
“For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,
11 Anno autem septimo dimittes eam, et requiescere facies, ut comedant pauperes populi tui: et quidquid reliquum fuerit, edant bestiæ agri: ita facies in vinea et in oliveto tuo.
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.
12 Sex diebus operaberis: septimo die cessabis, ut requiescat bos et asinus tuus: et refrigeretur filius ancillæ tuæ, et advena.
“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.
13 Omnia quæ dixi vobis, custodite. Et per nomen externorum deorum non iurabitis, neque audietur ex ore vestro.
“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.
14 Tribus vicibus per singulos annos mihi festa celebrabitis.
“You shall observe a feast to me three times a year.
15 Sollemnitatem azymorum custodies. Septem diebus comedes azyma, sicut præcepi tibi, tempore mensis novorum, quando egressus es de Ægypto: non apparebis in conspectu meo vacuus.
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.
16 Et sollemnitatem messis primitivorum operis tui, quæcumque seminaveris in agro. sollemnitatem quoque in exitu anni, quando congregaveris omnes fruges tuas de agro.
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.
17 Ter in anno apparebit omne masculinum tuum coram Domino Deo tuo.
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18 Non immolabis super fermento sanguinem victimæ meæ, nec remanebit adeps sollemnitatis meæ usque mane.
“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.
19 Primitias frugum terræ tuæ deferes in domum Domini Dei tui. Non coques hœdum in lacte matris suæ.
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.
20 Ecce ego mittam Angelum meum, qui præcedat te, et custodiat in via, et introducat in locum quem paravi.
“Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21 Observa eum, et audi vocem eius, nec contemnendum putes: quia non dimittet cum peccaveris, et est nomen meum in illo.
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.
22 Quod si audieris vocem eius, et feceris omnia quæ loquor, inimicus ero inimicis tuis, et affligam affligentes te.
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.
23 Præcedetque te Angelus meus, et introducet te ad Amorrhæum, et Hethæum, et Pherezæum, Chananæumque, et Hevæum, et Iebusæum, quos ego conteram.
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.
24 Non adorabis deos eorum, nec coles eos: non facies opera eorum, sed destrues eos, et confringes statuas eorum.
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.
25 Servietisque Domino Deo vestro, ut benedicam panibus tuis et aquis, et auferam infirmitatem de medio tui.
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.
26 Non erit infœcunda, nec sterilis in terra tua: numerum dierum tuorum implebo.
No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfil the number of your days.
27 Terrorem meum mittam in præcursum tuum, et occidam omnem populum, ad quem ingredieris: cunctorumque inimicorum tuorum coram te terga vertam:
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.
28 emittens crabrones prius, qui fugabunt Hevæum, et Chananæum, et Hethæum, antequam introeas.
I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.
29 Non eiiciam eos a facie tua anno uno: ne terra in solitudinem redigatur, et crescant contra te bestiæ.
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.
30 Paulatim expellam eos de conspectu tuo, donec augearis, et possideas Terram.
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.
31 Ponam autem terminos tuos a Mari rubro usque ad Mare Palæstinorum, et a deserto usque ad fluvium: tradam in manibus vestris habitatores Terræ, et eiiciam eos de conspectu vestro.
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.
32 Non inibis cum eis fœdus, nec cum diis eorum.
You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 Non habitent in terra tua, ne forte peccare te faciant in me, si servieris diis eorum: quod tibi certe erit in scandalum.
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.”

< Exodus 23 >