23 Do not make false reports. Do not tell lies in court to help wicked people.
2 Do not join a group of bad people to do evil things. When you speak in court, tell the truth so that the judges will decide what is right. Do not tell lies to agree with what everyone else says. 3 Do not speak on behalf of a poor man only because you like him.
4 Perhaps you may find your enemy's cow or his donkey when he has lost it. If so, you must give it back to him. 5 Perhaps you may see your enemy's donkey when it is carrying a heavy load. If the donkey has fallen down, do not refuse to give help. Do not leave the donkey there.
6 Always do what is right for your poor people when they stand in front of a judge. 7 Do not help anyone to use lies to accuse another person. Never punish anyone with death if they are not guilty. I will never say that a wicked person is not guilty.
8 Do not accept a bribe. A bribe will hide the truth even from honest people. It can make good people tell lies.
9 Do not be cruel to a foreign person who lives among you. You yourselves know what that feels like. Remember that you lived in Egypt as foreigners.
10 You must plant seed in your fields for six years. Then you can bring your crops home at harvest time. 11 But in the seventh year, you must let your fields lie empty. Do not dig them and do not plant anything in them. Then poor people among you can eat the food that they find in your fields. After that, the wild animals can eat any food that still remains. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your fields of olive trees.
12 Do your work for six days each week, but do not work on the seventh day. Then your oxen and your donkeys will have time to rest. Any slave who was born in your home and any foreigner who works for you may also have time to rest. That will help them to be strong.
13 Be careful to obey everything that I have told you. Do not pray to other gods for help. Do not even speak about them.
14 Three times each year, you must eat a feast to give me honour.
15 Eat the Feast of Flat Bread every year. For seven days, you must eat bread that you have made without any yeast. I have commanded you to do this. Do it at the right time during the month Abib. It was in that month that you came out of Egypt. Nobody must come to me without an offering.
16 Eat the Feast of Harvest every year. Offer to me the first crops that you bring from your fields. [ a ]
At the end of each year, eat Feast of Final Harvest. Do that when you have finished bringing in all of your crops from the fields.
17 Three times each year, all your men must come to worship the Almighty Lord .
18 When you kill an animal to offer it to me as a sacrifice, do not offer it with bread that has yeast in it. Be sure to burn all the fat of the animal on the same day. Do not keep any of it until the next morning.
19 When you cut the first crops from your fields, bring the best food to the house of the Lord your God.
Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
20 Look! I will send an angel to lead you on your journey. He will keep you safe. He will take you to the place that I have prepared for you. 21 Be careful to obey him. Listen to what he says to you. Do not turn against him. If you do that, he will not forgive you. I have given him my authority. 22 So be careful to obey him. Do everything that I tell you. Then I will be the enemy of your enemies. I will fight against anyone who fights against you. 23 My angel will go in front of you. He will bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. I will destroy them completely. 24 Do not worship their gods. Do not serve them. Do not copy the evil things that these people do. Destroy their idols and break their special stones into pieces.
25 You must serve only me, the Lord your God. Then I will bless your food and your water. I will remove illness from among you. 26 Your women will safely give birth to babies. They will all be able to have children. Everyone will live a long life.
27 I will cause all the nations that you meet to be afraid. All the people who attack you will become confused. I will cause all your enemies to turn round and run away from you. 28 I will send great fear on the people as you move into the land. [ b ] That will chase out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites. 29 But I will not chase out those people in one year. If I did that, the country would become empty of people. Then there would be many wild animals that would cause trouble to you. 30 I will remove the people slowly, one group at a time. As you become strong, you will take the land as your own home.
31 I will decide where the borders of your land will be. You will have the land from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will put the people who live there under your power. As you move into the land, you will chase those people out.
32 Do not make any agreement with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land. They would cause you to do bad things against me. If you serve their gods, you will become like their prisoners.’
23 “Don’t tell lies against other people. If you are a witness in court, don’t agree to help a bad person tell lies.
2 “Don’t do something just because everyone else is doing it. If you see a group of people doing wrong, don’t join them. You must not let them persuade you to do wrong things—you must do what is right and fair.
3 “In court, don’t treat a person in a special way simply because that person is poor.
4 “If you see a lost bull or donkey, then you must return it to its owner—even if the owner is your enemy.
5 “If you see an animal that cannot walk because it has too much to carry, you must stop and help that animal. You must help that animal even if it belongs to one of your enemies.
6 “In court, don’t let anyone take advantage of a person simply because that person is poor.
7 “Be very careful if you say that someone is guilty of something. Don’t make false charges against a person. Never allow innocent people to be killed as punishment for something they did not do. Whoever kills an innocent person is evil, and I will not treat a guilty person as innocent.
8 “If someone tries to pay you to agree with them when they are wrong, don’t accept that payment. A payment like that can blind judges so that they cannot see the truth. It can make good people tell lies.
9 “You must never do wrong things to a foreigner. Remember, you know what it is like to be a foreigner because at one time you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
10 “Plant seeds, harvest your crops, and work the ground for six years. 11 But the seventh year must be a special time of rest for the land. Don’t plant anything in your fields. If any crops grow there, allow the poor to have it. And allow the wild animals to eat the food that is left. You should do the same with your vineyards and with your fields of olive trees.
12 “Work for six days, but on the seventh day, rest! This will allow your slaves and other workers a time to rest and relax. And your bulls and donkeys will also have a time of rest.
13 “Be sure that you obey all these laws. Don’t worship false gods. You should not even speak their names!
14 “You will have three special festivals each year. You must come to my special place to worship me during these festivals. 15 The first festival is the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is as I commanded you. During this time you will eat bread that is made without yeast. This will continue for seven days. You will do this during the month of Abib, because this is the time when you came out of Egypt. Everyone must bring a sacrifice to me at that time.
16 “The second festival will be the Festival of Harvest. This festival will be during the early summer when you begin harvesting the first crops that you planted in your fields.
“The third festival will be the Festival of Shelters. This will be in the fall, when you finish gathering the rest of the crops from your fields.
17 “So three times each year all the men will come to the special place to be with the Lord God .
18 “When you kill an animal and offer its blood as a sacrifice, you must not include anything that has yeast in it. And when you burn the fat from my sacrifice, don’t let any of it remain until morning.
19 “When you gather your crops at harvest time, you should bring the first of everything you harvest to the house [ a ] of the Lord your God.
“You must not eat the meat from a young goat that is boiled in its mother’s milk.”
20 “I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to lead you to the place that I have prepared for you. 21 Obey the angel and follow him. Be careful in his presence, and don’t rebel against him. The angel will not forgive the wrong things you do to him. He has my power [ b ] in him. 22 If you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to all of your enemies. I will be against everyone who is against you.
23 “My angel will lead you through the land. He will lead you against many different people—the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But I will defeat all of them.
24 “Don’t worship their gods. Don’t ever bow down to those gods. You must never live the way those people live. You must destroy their idols. And you must break the stones that help them remember their gods. [ c ] 25 You must serve the Lord your God. If you do this, I will bless you with plenty of bread and water. I will take away all sickness from you. 26 Your women will all be able to have babies. None of their babies will die at birth. And I will allow you to live long lives.
27 “When you fight against your enemies, I will send my great power before you. [ d ] I will help you defeat all your enemies. The people who are against you will become confused in battle and run away. 28 I will send the hornet [ e ] in front of you. He will force your enemies to leave. The Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites will leave your country. 29 But I will not force all of them out of your land quickly. I will not do this in only one year. The land will be empty if I force the people out too fast. Then all the wild animals would increase and control the land. And they would be much trouble for you. 30 So I will force them out of your land very slowly. I will do this as you grow and eventually take the land to be your own.
31 “I will give you all the land from the Red Sea [ f ] to the Mediterranean Sea, [ g ] and from the desert of Sinai to the Euphrates River. I will let you defeat the people living there and force them all to leave.
32 “You must not make any agreements with any of those people or their gods. 33 Don’t let them stay in your country. If you let them stay, they will be like a trap to you—they will cause you to sin against me. And you will begin worshiping their gods.”
23 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
23 “ ( A ) You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a ( B ) malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow [ a ] the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you [ b ] testify in a dispute so as to join together with [ c ] a crowd in order to ( C ) pervert justice ; 3 ( D ) nor shall you [ d ] show favor to a poor person in his dispute.
4 “ ( E ) If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. 5 ( F ) If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for [ e ] its owner; you must arrange the load with him.
6 “ ( G ) You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 ( H ) Keep far from a false charge, and ( I ) do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for ( J ) I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “ ( K ) You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [ f ] subverts the cause of the just.
9 “ ( L ) You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the [ g ] feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10 “Now ( M ) you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it [ h ] rest 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 “ ( N ) For 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. 13 Now ( O ) concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and ( P ) do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard [ i ] from your mouth.
14 “ ( Q ) Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall keep ( R ) the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ( S ) month of Abib, for in [ j ] that month you came out of Egypt. And [ k ] ( T ) no one is to appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall keep ( U ) the 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 ( V ) when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 ( W ) Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord [ l ] God .
18 “ ( X ) You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; ( Y ) nor is the fat of My [ m ] feast to remain overnight until morning.
19 “You shall bring ( Z ) the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“ ( AA ) You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
20 “Behold, I am going to send ( AB ) an angel before you to guard you along the way and ( AC ) to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey his voice; ( AD ) do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your rebellion, since ( AE ) My name is in him. 22 But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then ( AF ) I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 ( AG ) For 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. 24 ( AH ) You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; ( AI ) but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their ( AJ ) memorial stones in pieces. 25 ( AK ) And you shall serve the Lord your God, [ n ] and He will bless your bread and your water; and ( AL ) I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There will be no one miscarrying or ( AM ) unable to have children in your land; ( AN ) I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will ( AO ) send My terror ahead of you, and ( AP ) throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will ( AQ ) make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send ( AR ) hornets ahead of you so that they will ( AS ) drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from you. 29 ( AT ) I 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. 30 I will drive them out from you ( AU ) little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 31 ( AV ) I will set your boundary from the [ o ] Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; ( AW ) for I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will ( AX ) drive them out from you. 32 ( AY ) You shall [ p ] make no covenant with them ( AZ ) or with their gods. 33 ( BA ) They shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, ( BB ) it is certain to be a snare to you.”
23 “Do not spread false reports. ( A ) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. ( B )
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice ( C ) by siding with the crowd, ( D ) 3 and do not show favoritism ( E ) to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s ( F ) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. ( G ) 5 If you see the donkey ( H ) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
6 “Do not deny justice ( I ) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge ( J ) and do not put an innocent ( K ) or honest person to death, ( L ) for I will not acquit the guilty. ( M )
8 “Do not accept a bribe, ( N ) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; ( O ) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. ( P ) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “Six days do your work, ( Q ) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. ( R )
13 “Be careful ( S ) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; ( T ) do not let them be heard on your lips. ( U )
14 “Three times ( V ) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; ( W ) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, ( X ) for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed. ( Y )
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest ( Z ) with the firstfruits ( AA ) of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering ( AB ) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. ( AC )
17 “Three times ( AD ) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord .
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. ( AE )
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. ( AF )
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits ( AG ) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. ( AH )
20 “See, I am sending an angel ( AI ) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. ( AJ ) 21 Pay attention to him and listen ( AK ) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive ( AL ) your rebellion, ( AM ) since my Name ( AN ) is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do ( AO ) all that I say, I will be an enemy ( AP ) to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, ( AQ ) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship ( AR ) them or follow their practices. ( AS ) You must demolish ( AT ) them and break their sacred stones ( AU ) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God, ( AV ) and his blessing ( AW ) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness ( AX ) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren ( AY ) in your land. I will give you a full life span. ( AZ )
27 “I will send my terror ( BA ) ahead of you and throw into confusion ( BB ) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. ( BC ) 28 I will send the hornet ( BD ) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites ( BE ) out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals ( BF ) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession ( BG ) of the land.
31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea [ a ] to the Mediterranean Sea, [ b ] and from the desert to the Euphrates River. ( BH ) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out ( BI ) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant ( BJ ) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare ( BK ) to you.”
