Exodus 23
23
1 "You shall not accept a lying voice. Neither shall you join your hand so as to give false testimony on behalf on the impious.
2 You shall not follow the crowd in doing evil. Neither shall you go astray in judgment, by agreeing with the majority opinion, apart from the truth.
3 Likewise, you shall not show pity in judgment of the poor.
4 If you come across an ox or a donkey of your enemy, which has gone astray, lead it back to him.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you, fallen under its burden, you shall not pass by without lifting it up with him.
6 You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.
7 You shall flee from lies. The innocent and the just you shall not kill. For I shun the impious.
8 Neither shall you accept bribes, which blind even the prudent and subvert the words of the just.
9 You shall not harass a sojourner, for you know the life of a newcomer. For you yourselves also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
10 For six years, you shall sow your land and gather its produce.
11 But in the seventh year, you shall release it and cause it to rest, so that the poor of your people may eat. And whatever remains, let the beasts of the field eat it. So shall you do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 For six days, you shall work. On the seventh day, you shall cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the newcomer and the son of your handmaid may be refreshed.
13 Preserve all that I have said to you. And by the names of foreign gods you shall not swear; neither shall these be heard from your mouth.
14 Three times in each year, you shall celebrate feasts to me.
15 You shall keep the solemnity of unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, just as I instructed you, at the time of the month of new grain, when you departed from Egypt. You shall not appear empty-handed in my sight,
16 for it is the solemnity of the harvest of the first-fruits of your work, of whatever you have sown in the field. Likewise, it is a solemnity at the end of the season, when you will have gathered in all your crops from the field.
17 Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.
18 You shall not immolate the blood of my victim over leaven, nor shall the fat of my solemnity remain until morning.
19 You shall carry the first grain of the land to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a young goat in the milk of its mother.
20 Behold, I will send my Angel, who will go before you, and preserve you on your journey, and lead you into the place that I have prepared.
21 Heed him, and hear his voice, and do not hold him in disregard. For he will not release you when you have sinned, and my name is in him.
22 But if you listen to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will afflict those who afflict you.
23 And my Angel will go before you, and he will bring you to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, whom I will crush.
24 You shall not adore their gods, nor worship them. You shall not do their works, but you shall destroy them and break apart their statues.
25 And you shall serve the Lord your God, so that I may bless your bread and your waters, and so that I may take away sickness from your midst.
26 There will not be fruitless or barren ones in your land. I will fill up the number of your days.
27 I will send my terror to run ahead of you, and I will kill all the people to whom you will enter. And I will turn the backs of all your enemies before you,
28 sending wasps ahead, so that they will put to flight the Hivite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, before you enter.
29 I will not cast them out from your face in one year, lest the land be reduced to a wilderness and the wild beasts increase against you.
30 I will expel them little by little from your sight, until you have expanded and may possess the land.
31 Then I will set your limits to be from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Palestinians, and from the desert all the way to the river. I will deliver into your hands the inhabitants of the land, and I will cast them out from your sight.
32 You shall not enter into a pact with them, nor with their gods.
33 They may not live on your land, lest perhaps they may cause you to sin against me, if you serve their gods, which certainly would be a temptation for you."
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Exodus 23: CPDV
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Exodus 23
23
Laws About Mercy and Fairness
1“Do not spread reports that are false. Do not help a guilty person by telling lies in court.
2“Do not follow the crowd when they do what is wrong. When you are a witness in court, do not turn what is right into what is wrong. Do not go along with the crowd. 3Do not show favor to a poor person in court.
4“Suppose you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away. Then be sure to return it. 5Suppose you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has fallen down under its load. Then do not leave it there. Be sure you help them with it.
6“Be fair to your poor people in their court cases. 7Do not have anything to do with a false charge. Do not put to death people not guilty of doing anything wrong. I will not let guilty people go free.
8“Do not take money from people who want special favors. It makes you blind to the truth. It twists the words of good people.
9“Do not treat outsiders badly. You yourselves know how it feels to be outsiders. Remember, you were outsiders in Egypt.
Sabbath Laws
10“For six years plant your fields and gather your crops. 11But during the seventh year do not plow your land or use it. Then the poor people among you can get food from it. The wild animals can eat what is left over. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your groves of olive trees.
12“Do all your work in six days. But do not do any work on the seventh day. Then your oxen and donkeys can rest. The slaves born in your house can be renewed. And so can the outsiders who live among you.
13“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not speak the names of other gods. Do not even let them be heard on your lips.
Laws About Celebrating the Three Main Feasts
14“Three times a year you must celebrate a feast in my honor.
15“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days, eat bread made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Do it at the appointed time in the month of Aviv. You came out of Egypt in that month.
“You must not come to worship me with your hands empty.
16“Celebrate the Feast of Weeks. Bring the first share of your crops from your fields.
“Celebrate the Feast of Booths. Hold it in the fall when you gather in your crops from your fields.
17“Three times a year all your men must come to worship me. I am your Lord and King.
18“Do not include anything made with yeast when you offer me the blood of a sacrifice.
“Suppose the fat from sacrifices is left over from my feasts. Then do not keep it until morning.
19“Bring the best of the first share of your crops to my house. I am the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
God’s Angel Will Prepare the Way
20“I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will guard you along the way. He will bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him. Listen to what he says. Do not refuse to obey him. He will not forgive you if you turn against him. He has my full authority. 22Listen carefully to what he says. Do everything I say. Then I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight against those who fight against you. 23My angel will go ahead of you. He will bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. I will wipe them out. 24Do not do what they do. Do not bow down to their gods or worship them. You must destroy the statues of their gods. You must break their sacred stones to pieces. 25Worship the Lord your God. Then he will bless your food and water. I, the Lord, will take away any sickness you may have. 26In your land no woman will give birth to a dead baby. Every woman will be able to have children. I will give you a long life.
27“I will send my terror ahead of you. I will throw every nation you meet into a panic. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run away. 28I will send hornets ahead of you. They will drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29But I will not drive them out in just one year. If I did, the land would be deserted. There would be too many wild animals for you. 30I will drive them out ahead of you little by little. I will do that until there are enough of you to take control of the land.
31“I will make your borders secure from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. They will go from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land. You will drive them out to make room for yourselves. 32Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33Do not let them live in your land. If you do, they will cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, that will certainly be a trap for you.”
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