Exodus 23

1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

You must not give a false report about anyone. Do not join with a wicked man to be a dishonest 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: ]

You must not follow a crowd to do evil, nor may you bear witness while siding with the crowd in order to pervert justice.

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

You must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you must bring it back to him.

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.

If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen to the ground under its load, you must not leave that person. You must surely help him with his donkey.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

Do not thrust aside justice for your poor in his lawsuit.

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

Do not join others in making false accusations, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see, and perverts honest people's words.

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.

You must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

For six years you will sow seed on your land and gather in its produce.

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.

But in the seventh year you will leave it unplowed and fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave, the wild animals will eat. You will do the same with your vineyards and olive orchards.

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.

During six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest. Do this so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and so that your female slave's son and any foreigner may rest and 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.

Pay attention to everything that I have said to you. Do not mention the names of other gods, nor let their names be heard from your mouth.

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every 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: )

You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you will eat unleavened bread for seven days. At that time, you will appear before me in the month of Aviv, which is fixed for this purpose. It was in this month that you came out from Egypt. But you must not appear before me empty-handed.

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.

You must observe the Festival of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors when you sowed seed in the fields. Also you must observe the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your produce from the fields.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

All your males must appear before the Lord Yahweh three times every year.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

You must not offer the blood from sacrifices made to me with bread containing yeast. The fat from the sacrifices at my festivals must not remain all night 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.

You must bring the choicest firstfruits from your land into my house, the house of Yahweh your God. You must not boil a young goat in its 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.

I am going to send an angel before you to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place that 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.

Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon your transgressions. My name is on 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.

If you indeed obey his voice and do everything that I tell you, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your 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.

My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. I will destroy them.

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.

You must not bow down to their gods, worship them, or do as they do. Instead, you must completely overthrow them and smash their stone pillars in pieces.

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.

You must worship Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and water. I will remove sickness from among you.

26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

No woman will be barren or will miscarry her young in your land. I will give you long lives.

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.

I will send fear of myself on those into whose land you advance. I will kill all the people whom you meet. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in fright.

28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.

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.

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, or the land would become abandoned, and the wild animals would become too many for you.

30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Instead, I will drive them out little by little from before you until you become fruitful 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.

I will fix your borders from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will give you victory over the land's inhabitants. You will drive them out before yourselves.

32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

You must not make a covenant with them or 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.

They must not live in your land, or they would make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, this will surely become a trap for you.'”