Exodus 23

Modern

Literal

Justice and Mercy

¹“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

¹“ You shall not lift up a vain report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be a violent witness.

²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

²You shall not follow a crowd to do evil, and you shall not testify in a dispute to turn aside after many to turn aside justice.

³And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

³And to a poor man you shall not honor in his dispute.

⁴If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

⁴If you encounter the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you shall surely return it to him.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, then do not leave it; you must surely help him with it.

⁶You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

⁶You shall not turn aside the justice of your poor in his dispute.

⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

⁷From a false matter you shall keep far, and the innocent and righteous you shall not kill, for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

⁸And a bribe you shall not take, for the bribe blinds the clear-sighted and perverts the words of the righteous.

⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

⁹And a sojourner you shall not oppress, for you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, because you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

¹⁰For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

¹⁰And for six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce.

¹¹but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹¹And the seventh year you shall let it rest and let it lie fallow, and the poor of your people shall eat. And what they leave, the beast of the field shall eat. You shall do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive grove.

¹²For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

¹²Six days you shall do your works, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your maidservant and the sojourner may be refreshed.

¹³Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

¹³And take heed in all that I have said to you. And the name of other gods you shall not mention, nor let it be heard on your mouth.

The Three Feasts of Pilgrimage

¹⁴Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

¹⁴Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me.

¹⁵You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread^a as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib^b you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁵The Feast of the Unleavened you shall keep; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib; for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before My face empty.

¹⁶You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest^a with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field.

And keep the Feast of Ingathering^b at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

¹⁶And the Feast of the Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you sow in the field; and the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors from the field.

¹⁷Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

¹⁷Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the face of the Lord YHWH.

¹⁸You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

¹⁸You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice on leavened bread, nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.

¹⁹Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

¹⁹The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of YHWH your God. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

God’s Angel to Lead

²⁰Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

²⁰Behold, I am sending an angel before your face to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.

²¹Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

²¹Be guarded from his face and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is within him.

²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

²³For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

²³For My angel will go before your faces and bring you in to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.

²⁴You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

²⁴You shall not bow down to their gods, and you shall not serve them, and you shall not do according to their works; for you must utterly demolish them and thoroughly break to pieces their pillars.

²⁵So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless^a your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

²⁵And you shall serve YHWH your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take away sickness from among you.

²⁶No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

²⁶There will be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; the number of your days I will fulfill.

²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

²⁷My terror I will send before your faces, and I will confuse all the people among whom you come in; and I will give the neck of all your enemies to you.

²⁸I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

²⁸And I will send the hornet before your faces, and it shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before your faces.

²⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.

²⁹I will not drive them out from before your faces in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you.

³⁰Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

³⁰Little by little I will drive them out from before your faces, until that you are fruitful and you take possession of the land.

³¹And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea^a to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates.^b For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

³¹And I will set your border from the Red Sea and to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River. For I will give into your hands those dwelling in the land, and you shall drive them out from before your faces.

³²You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

³²You shall not cut a covenant with them or with their gods.

³³They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

³³They shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”