Exodus 23

CHAPTER 23

1Thou shalt not receive a voice of leasing, thou shalt not raise thine hand, that is, make covenant, either promise, that thou say false witnessing for a wicked man.

2Thou shalt not follow a company to do evil, neither thou shalt assent to the sentence of full many men in doom, that thou go away from truth.

3Also thou shalt not have mercy of a poor man in a cause, or doom.

4If thou meetest thine enemy’s ox, either his ass, straying, lead it again to him.

5If thou seest that the ass of him that hateth thee lieth under a burden, thou shalt not pass by, but thou shalt raise up it with him.

6Thou shalt not bow [away] from truth in the doom of a poor man.

7Thou shalt flee leasing. Thou shalt not slay an innocent man, and just [or rightwise]; for I am adversary to a wicked man.

8Take thou not gifts, that blind, yea, prudent men, and destroy the words of just [or rightwise] men.

9Thou shalt not be dis-easeful of a pilgrim, for ye know the souls of comelings, for also ye were pilgrims in the land of Egypt.

10Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and thou shalt gather [the] fruits thereof;

11forsooth in the seventh year thou shalt leave it, and make it to rest, that the poor men of thy people eat, and whatever is left ungathered, the beasts of the field eat it; so thou shalt do in thy vinery [or vineyard], and in the place of thine olive trees.

12Six days thou shalt work, and in the seventh day thou shalt cease, that thine ox, and thine ass rest, and the son of thine handmaid, and the comeling be refreshed.

13Keep ye all things, which I [have] said to you; and ye shall not swear by the name of alien gods, neither it shall be heard of your mouth.

14In three times by all years ye shall hallow feasts to me.

15Thou shalt keep the solemnity of therf loaves; seven days thou shalt eat therf bread, as I commanded to thee, in the time of [the] month of new things, when thou wentest out of Egypt; thou shalt not appear void in my sight.

16And thou shalt keep the solemnity of the month of the first things of thy works#23:16 Also known as the Feast of the Harvest, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of the First Fruits., whatever things thou hast sown in the field. Also thou shalt keep the solemnity in the going out of the year#23:16 Also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Shelters, and the Feast of Ingathering., when thou hast gathered all thy fruits of the field.

17Thrice in the year all thy male kind shall appear before thy Lord God.

18Thou shalt not offer the blood of thy slain sacrifice on sourdough; neither the fatness of my solemnity shall dwell till to the morrowtide.

19Thou shalt bear the first things of the fruits of thy land into the house of thy Lord God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in the milk of his mother.

20Lo! I send mine angel, that shall go before thee, and shall keep thee in the way, and shall lead thee to the place which I have made ready to thee.

21Take thou heed to him, and hear thou his voice, neither guess thou him to be despised, or despisable; for he shall not forgive, when thou sinnest, and my name is in him.

22For if thou hearest his voice, and doest all things which I speak, I shall be enemy to thine enemies, and I shall torment them, that torment thee;

23and mine angel shall go before thee, and he shall lead in thee to Amorites, and Hittites, and Perizzites, and Canaanites, and Hivites, and Jebus-ites, which I shall break, or destroy.

24Thou shalt not honour the gods of them, neither thou shalt worship them; thou shalt not do the works of them, but thou shalt destroy their gods, and thou shalt break the images of them.

25And ye shall serve to your Lord God, that I bless thy loaves, and thy waters, and do away sickness from the midst of thee;

26neither a woman unfruitful, neither barren, shall be in thy land; I shall fulfill the number of thy days.

27I shall send my dread into thy before-going, and I shall slay all the people, to which thou shalt enter, and I shall turn the backs of all thine enemies before thee;

28and I shall send out before thee crabrones, or stinging flies, that shall drive away Hivite, and Canaanite, and Hittite, before that thou enter.

29I shall not cast them out from thy face in one year, lest the land be turned into wilderness, and beasts increase against thee;

30little and little I shall cast them out from thy sight, till thou be increased, and wield the land.

31Forsooth and I shall set thy terms from the Red Sea till to the sea of Palestines, and from the desert till to the flood. I shall give into your hands the dwellers of the land, and I shall cast them out from your sight;

32thou shalt not make bond of peace with them, neither with their gods.

33Dwell they not in thy land, lest peradventure they make thee to do sin against me; if thou servest their gods, which thing certainly shall be to thee into cause of stumbling.

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Exodus 23

Equal Justice for All

The Lord said:

1 # Ex 20.16; Lv 19.11,12; Dt 5.20. Don't spread harmful rumors or help a criminal by giving false evidence.

2Always tell the truth in court, even if everyone else is#23.2 everyone else is: Or “the authorities are.” dishonest and stands in the way of justice. 3#Lv 19.15. And don't favor the poor, simply because they are poor.

4 # Dt 22.1-4. If you find an ox or a donkey that has wandered off, take it back where it belongs, even if the owner is your enemy.

5If a donkey is overloaded and falls down, you must do what you can to help, even if it belongs to someone who doesn't like you.#23.5 you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.

6 # Lv 19.15; Dt 16.18,19. Make sure that the poor are given equal justice in court. 7Don't bring false charges against anyone or sentence an innocent person to death. I won't forgive you if you do.

8Don't accept bribes. Judges are blinded and justice is twisted by bribes.

9 # Ex 22.21; Lv 19.33,34; Dt 24.17,18; 27.14-26. Don't mistreat foreigners. You were foreigners in Egypt, and you know what it is like.

Laws for the Sabbath

The Lord said:

10 # Lv 25.1-7. Plant and harvest your crops for six years, 11but let the land rest during the seventh year. The poor are to eat what they want from your fields, vineyards, and olive trees during that year, and when they have all they want from your fields, leave the rest for wild animals.

12 # Ex 20.9-11; 31.15; 34.21; 35.2; Lv 23.3; Dt 5.13,14. Work the first six days of the week, but rest and relax on the seventh day. This law is not only for you, but for your oxen, donkeys, and slaves, as well as for any foreigners among you.

13Make certain that you obey everything I have said. Don't pray to other gods or even mention their names.

Three Annual Festivals

(Exodus 34.18-26; Deuteronomy 16.1-17)

The Lord said:

14Celebrate three festivals each year in my honor.

15 # Ex 12.14-20; Lv 23.6-8; Nu 28.17-25. Celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread by eating bread made without yeast, just as I have commanded.#23.15 as I have commanded: See 12.14-20. Do this at the proper time during the month of Abib,#23.15 Abib: See the note at 12.2. because it is the month when you left Egypt. And make certain that everyone brings the proper offerings.

16 # Lv 23.15-21; Nu 28.26-31; Lv 23.39-43. Celebrate the Harvest Festival#23.16 Harvest Festival: Traditionally called the “Festival of Weeks” and known in New Testament times as “Pentecost.” each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters#23.16 Festival of Shelters: The Hebrew text has “Festival of Ingathering” (so also in 34.22), which was the final harvesting of crops and fruits before the autumn rains began. But the usual name was “Festival of Shelters.” each autumn when you pick your fruit.

17Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.

18Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. And make sure that the fat of the animal is burned that same day.

19 # Dt 26.2; Ex 34.26; Dt 14.21. Each year bring the best part of your first harvest to the place of worship.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

A Promise and a Warning

The Lord said:

20I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. 21Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. 22If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. 23My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images.

25Worship only me, the Lord your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. 26Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.

27I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. 28I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. 29But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. 30Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.

31I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea#23.31 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18). to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. 32But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. 33Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.

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