Exodus

The second book of Moses, called Exodus, chapter 23, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 23 New English Translation

Justice

   1 "You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
   2 "You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 3 and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.
   4 "If you encounter your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.
   6 "You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance from a false charge - do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.
   8 "you must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.
   9 "you must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and Feasts

   10 "For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. 11 But in the seventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant's son and any hired help may refresh themselves.
   13 "Pay attention to do everything I have told you, and do not even mention the names of other gods - do not let them be heard on your lips.
   14 "Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me. 15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed.
   16 "You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field. 17 At three times in the year all your males will appear before the LORD God.
   18 "You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning. 19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the LORD your God. "You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

The Angel of the Presence

   20 "I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. 21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. 22 But if you diligently obey him and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.
   24 "You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces. 25 you must serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
   27 "I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land. 31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
   32 "You must make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."

King James Version

   1 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.