Exodus 23

Sundry Laws

1“1You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a 2malicious witness. 2You shall not follow 3the masses in doing evil, nor shall you 4testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after 5a multitude in order to 6pervert justice; 37nor shall you 8be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

4“9If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 510If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.

6“11You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 712Keep far from a false charge, and 13do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for 14I will not acquit the guilty.

8“15You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and 16subverts the cause of the just.

9“17You shall not oppress a 18stranger, since you yourselves know the 19feelings of a 20stranger, for you also were 21strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

10“22You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11but on the seventh year you shall let it 23rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12“24Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as 25your stranger, may refresh themselves. 13Now 26concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and 27do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard 28from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14“29Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15You shall observe 30the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the 31month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And 3233none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 16Also you shall observe 34the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year 35when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 1736Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord 37God.

18“38You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; 39nor is the fat of My 40feast to remain overnight until morning.

19“You shall bring 41the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“42You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Conquest of the Land

20“Behold, I am going to send 43an angel before you to guard you along the way and 44to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; 45do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since 46My name is in him. 22But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then 47I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 2348For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 2449You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; 50but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their 51sacred pillars in pieces. 2552But you shall serve the Lord your God, 53and He will bless your bread and your water; and 54I will remove sickness from your midst. 26There shall be no one miscarrying or 55barren in your land; 56I will fulfill the number of your days. 27I will 57send My terror ahead of you, and 58throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will 59make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28I will send 60hornets ahead of you so that they will 61drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. 2962I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30I will drive them out before you 63little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 3164I will fix your boundary from the 65Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; 66for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will 67drive them out before you. 3268You shall 69make no covenant with them 70or with their gods. 3371They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, 72it will surely be a snare to you.”