Exodus 23
23
Laws About Fairness
1“You must not tell lies. You might be a witness in court. Don’t help a bad person by telling lies.
2“You must not do wrong just because everyone else is doing it. You might be a witness in court. Then you must not ruin a fair trial. You must not tell lies just because everyone else is. 3A poor man might be in court. You must not take his side just because he is poor.
4“You might see your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away. Then you must return it to him. 5You might see that your enemy’s donkey has fallen because its load is too heavy. You must not leave it there. You must help your enemy get the donkey back on its feet.
6“You must not be unfair to a poor man when he is in court. 7You must not lie when you accuse someone in court. Never allow an innocent or honest person to be put to death as punishment. This is because I will not treat guilty people as if they were innocent.
8“You must not accept money from a person who wants you to lie in court. Such money will not let you see what is right. Such money makes good people tell lies.
9“You must not mistreat a foreigner. You know how it feels to be a foreigner. You were foreigners in Egypt.
Laws for the Sabbath
10“For six years you are to plant and harvest crops on your land. 11Then during the seventh year, do not plow or plant your land. If any food grows there, allow the poor people to have it. And let the wild animals eat what is left. You should do the same with your vineyards and your orchards of olive trees.
12“You should work six days a week. But on the seventh day you must rest. This lets your ox and your donkey rest. This also lets the slave born in your house and the foreigner be refreshed.
13“Be sure to do all that I have said to you. You must not even say the names of other gods. The names of those gods must not come out of your mouth.
Three Yearly Feasts
14“Three times each year you must hold a feast to honor me. 15You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Do this in the way I commanded you. For seven days you must eat bread that is made without yeast. You must do this at the set time during the month of Abib. This is the month when you came out of Egypt. No one is to come to worship me without bringing an offering.
16“You must celebrate the Feast of Harvest. Offer to God the first things you harvest. These are from the crops you planted in your fields.
“You must celebrate the Feast of Tents in the fall. Do this when you gather all the crops from your fields.
17“So three times during every year all men must come to worship the Lord God.
18“You must not offer animal blood along with anything that has yeast in it.
“You must not save any of the fat from the sacrifice for the next day.
19“You must bring the best of the firstfruits of your land. Bring them to the Holy Tent# Literally, “house of the Lord your God.” See Exodus 25:9. of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Promises
20“I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will protect you as you travel. He will lead you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to the angel and obey him. Do not turn against him. He will not forgive such turning against him because my power is in him. 22You must listen carefully to all he says. You must do everything that I tell you. If you do this, I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight all who fight against you. 23My angel will go ahead of you. He will take you into the land of these people: the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. And I will destroy them.
24“You must not bow down to their gods or worship those gods. You must not live the way those people live. You must destroy their idols. And you must break into pieces stone pillars they use in worship. 25You must worship the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless your bread and your water. I will take away sickness from you. 26None of your women will have her baby die before it is born. All women will have children. I will allow you to live long lives.
27“I will make your enemies afraid of me. I will confuse any people you fight against. I will make all your enemies run away from you. 28I will send something like hornets ahead of you. They will force the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29But I will not force all those people out in only one year. If I did, the land would become a desert. Then the wild animals would become too many for you. 30Instead, I will force those people out of your land very slowly. I will wait until there are enough of you to take over the land.
31“I will give you the land from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea. And I will give you the land between the desert and the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the people who now live in the land. You will force them out ahead of you. 32You must not make an agreement with those people or with their gods. 33You must not let them live in your land. If they live there, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, you will be like someone caught in a trap.”
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Exodus 23
23
Regulations Regarding Justice
1“ ‘You will not spread#Literally “lift” a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2You will not follow#Literally “be behind” a majority#Or “many” or “the many” for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority#Or “many” or “the many” to pervert justice. 3You will not be partial to a powerless person#Or “a poor person” in his legal dispute.
4“ ‘If you come upon the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you will certainly bring it back to him. 5If you see the donkey of your enemy lying down under its burden, you will refrain from abandoning him. You will surely arrange#Or “restore” or “put in order” it with him.
6“ ‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute. 7You will stay far from a false charge,#Literally “word of deception” and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, because I will not declare the wicked righteous.#Or “treat as innocent” or “acquit” 8And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous. 9And you will not oppress an alien; you yourselves know the feelings#Or “inner self” or “soul” of the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Regulations Regarding Work and Festivals
10“ ‘And six years you will sow your land and gather its yield. 11But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals#Hebrew “animal” of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees.
12“ ‘Six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you will stop so that your ox and your donkey will rest and the son of your slave woman and the alien will be refreshed.
13“ ‘And you will be attentive to all that I have said to you, and you will not profess#Literally “cause to remember,” “bring to remembrance,” or “mention” in prayer or praise the name of other gods; it will not be heard in your mouth.
14“ ‘Three times in the year you will hold a festival for me. 15You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you at the appointed time, the month of Abib, because in it you came out from Egypt, and no one will#Literally “they will not” appear before me empty-handed. 16And you will keep the Feast of Harvest, with the firstfruits of your work, what you sow in the field. And you will keep the Feast of Harvest Gathering when the year goes out, when you gather your work from the field. 17Three times in the year all your men will appear before the Lord Yahweh.
18“ ‘You will not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice together with food with yeast, and you will not leave the fat of my feast overnight until morning.
19“ ‘The best of the firstfruits of your land you will bring to the house of Yahweh your God.
“ ‘You will not boil a young goat#Or “kid” in its mother’s milk.
Reasons for Loyal Obedience
20“ ‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. 22But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites#Hebrew “Amorite” and the Hittites#Hebrew “Hittite” and the Perizzites#Hebrew “Perizzite” and the Canaanites#Hebrew “Canaanite” and the Hivites#Hebrew “Hivite” and the Jebusites,#Hebrew “Jebusite” I will wipe them out.
24“ ‘You will not bow to their gods, and you will not serve them, and you will not act according to their actions, because you will utterly demolish them, and you will utterly break their stone pillars. 25And you will serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from among you. 26There will be no one suffering miscarriage or infertile in your land. I will make full the number of your days.#Or “give you a full life span”
27“ ‘I will release my terror before you, and I will throw into confusion all the people against whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their back to you.#Literally “give all your enemies to you back” 28And I will send the hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivites,#Hebrew “Hivite” the Canaanites,#Hebrew “Canaanite” and the Hittites#Hebrew “Hittite” from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a desolation and the wild animals#Literally “the animal of the field” multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you are fruitful and take possession of the land.
31“ ‘And I will set your boundary from the Red Sea#Literally “sea of reed” and up to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert up to the river,#Or “the Euphrates” because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. 32You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods. 33They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.’ ”
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