Exodus 23

1 Thou shalt not receive the voice of a lie: neither shalt thou join thy hand to bear false witness for a wicked person.

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 the multitude to do evil: neither shalt thou yield in judgment, to the opinion of the most part, to stray from the truth.

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 favour a poor man in judgment.

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

4 If thou meet thy enemy’s ox or ass going astray, bring it back to him.

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 lie underneath his burden, thou shalt not pass by, but shalt lift him up 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 go aside in the poor man’s judgment.

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

7 Thou shalt fly lying. The innocent and just person thou shalt not put to death: because I abhor 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 Neither shalt thou take bribes, which even blind the wise, and pervert the words of the just.

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

9 Thou shalt not molest a stranger, for you know the hearts of strangers: for you also 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 Six years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the corn 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 alone, and suffer it to rest, that the poor of thy people may eat, and whatsoever shall be left, let the beasts of the field eat it: so shalt thou do with thy vineyard and 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 work: the seventh day thou shalt cease, that thy ox and thy 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 Keep all things that I have said to you. And by the name of strange gods you shall not swear, neither shall it be heard out of your 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 every year you shall celebrate feasts to me.

You must travel to hold a festival for me three times every year.

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month of new corn, when thou didst come forth out of Egypt: thou shalt not appear empty before me.

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 the harvest of the firstfruits of thy work, whatsoever thou hast sown in the field. The feast also in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in all thy corn 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 Thrice a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God.

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

18 Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of my victim upon leaven, neither shall the fat of my solemnity 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 Thou shalt carry the firstfruits of the corn of thy ground to the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

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 will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that 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 Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned: for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and 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 wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee.

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 And my angel shall go before thee, and shall bring thee in unto the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, whom I will destroy.

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 adore their gods, nor serve them. Thou shalt not do their works, but shalt destroy them, and break their statues.

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 you shall serve the Lord your God, that I may bless your bread and your waters, and may take away sickness 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 not be one fruitless nor barren in thy land: I will fill the number of thy days.

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 will turn the backs of all thy enemies before 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 Sending out hornets before, that shall drive away the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, before thou come in.

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

29 I will not cast them out from thy face in one year: lest the land be brought into a wilderness, and the beasts 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, till thou be increased, and dost possess 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 to the sea of the Palestines, and from the desert to the river: I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hands, and will drive them out from before you.

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 not enter into league with them, nor with their gods.

You must not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

33 Let them not dwell in thy land, lest perhaps thy make thee sin against me, if thou serve their god: which undoubtedly will be a scandal to 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.'”