Exodus 23

Justice Must Not Be Distorted

1“You shall not carry a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to become a malicious witness. 2You shall not follow the many to do evil, and you shall not testify in a dispute by turning aside after the many to distort justice. 3Nor shall you show favoritism to a poor person in his dispute.

Care for an Enemy’s Animal

4“If you meet your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its load, you shall refrain from abandoning him. You shall surely release it with him.

Do Not Deny Justice

6“You shall not distort the justice due to your poor in his dispute. 7Keep far from a false matter. Do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not declare the wicked innocent. 8You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. 9You shall not oppress a resident alien. You yourselves know the life of the resident alien, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath Year and Sabbath Day

10“Six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce. 11But in the seventh you shall let it rest and leave it alone, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease, so that your ox and donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the resident alien may be refreshed. 13Be careful concerning all that I have said to you. You shall not mention the name of other gods; it shall not be heard from your mouth.

Three Pilgrimage Festivals

14“Three times in the year you shall hold a festival for me. 15You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 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 from Egypt. No one shall appear before me empty-handed. 16And the Festival of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your work, what you sow in the field; and the Festival of Ingathering at the going out of the year, when you gather the fruit of your work from the field. 17Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD. 18You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, and the fat of my festival sacrifice shall not remain until morning. 19The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.

You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

My Messenger Will Go before You

20“Look, I am sending a messenger before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Be careful before him and listen to his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is within him. 22But if you truly listen 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 messenger will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will cut them off.

Do Not Serve Their Gods

24“You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do according to their deeds, but you shall utterly tear them down and completely shatter their pillars. 25You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

I Will Send Terror before You

27“I will send my terror before you and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28I will send the hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. 29I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you become fruitful and possess the land. 31I will set your border from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out from before you. 32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33They shall not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely become a snare to you.”