Exodus 23

Various Laws

1“1You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a 2malicious witness. 2You shall not follow 3the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you 4testify in a dispute so as to join together with 5a crowd in order to 6pervert justice; 37nor shall you 8show favor to a poor person in his dispute.

4“9If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. 510If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for 11its owner; you must arrange the load with him.

6“12You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 713Keep far from a false charge, and 14do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for 15I will not acquit the guilty.

8“16You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and 17subverts the cause of the just.

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

The Sabbath and the Land

10“Now 20you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11but in the seventh year you shall let it 21rest and lie uncultivated, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the animal of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12“22For six 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 the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves. 13Now 23concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and 24do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard 25from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14“26Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15You shall keep 27the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the 28month of Abib, for in 29that month you came out of Egypt. And 3031no one is to appear before Me empty-handed. 16Also you shall keep 32the 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 33when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 1734Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord 35God.

18“36You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; 37nor is the fat of My 38feast to remain overnight until morning.

19“You shall bring 39the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“40You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Conquest of the Land

20“Behold, I am going to send 41an angel before you to guard you along the way and 42to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21Be attentive to him and obey his voice; 43do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your rebellion, since 44My name is in him. 22But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then 45I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 2346For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 2447You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; 48but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their 49memorial stones in pieces. 2550And you shall serve the Lord your God, 51and He will bless your bread and your water; and 52I will remove sickness from your midst. 26There will be no one miscarrying or 53unable to have children in your land; 54I will fulfill the number of your days. 27I will 55send My terror ahead of you, and 56throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will 57make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28And I will send 58hornets ahead of you so that they will 59drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from you. 2960I will not drive them out from you in a single year, so that the land will not become desolate and the animals of the field become too numerous for you. 30I will drive them out from you 61little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 3162I will set your boundary from the 63Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; 64for I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will 65drive them out from you. 3266You shall 67make no covenant with them 68or with their gods. 3369They shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, 70it is certain to be a snare to you.”