Exodus 23

1 Thou shalt not utter a false report. Do not lay thy hand with a lawless man, to become a witness helping forward violence and wrong.

“You shall not accept a lying voice. Neither shall you join your hand so as to give false testimony on behalf of the impious.

2 Thou shalt not follow multitudes to commit wickedness, —neither shalt thou answer in a quarrel, so as to turn away after multitudes to mislead,

You shall not follow the crowd in doing evil. Neither shall you go astray in judgment, by agreeing with the majority opinion, apart from the truth.

3 Even a poor man, shalt thou not prefer in his quarrel.

Likewise, you shall not show pity in judgment of the poor.

4 When thou meetest the ox of thine enemy, or his ass, going astray, thou shalt, surely bring it back, to him.

If you come across an ox or a donkey of your enemy, which has gone astray, lead it back to him.

5 When thou seest the ass of him that hateth thee sinking down under his burden, and mightest have foreborne to unload him, thou shalt surely help him to unload,

If you see the donkey of one who hates you, fallen under its burden, you shall not pass by without lifting it up with him.

6 Thou shalt not pervert the vindication of thy needy one in his quarrel.

You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.

7 From a matter of falsehood, thou shalt keep far away, —and the innocent one and the righteous, do not thou slay, for I will not justify a lawless man.

You shall flee from lies. The innocent and the just you shall not kill. For I shun the impious.

8 And, a bribe, shalt thou not take, —for the bribe, blindeth the clear-sighted, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

Neither shall you accept bribes, which blind even the prudent and subvert the words of the just.

9 And a sojourner, shalt thou not drive away, —seeing that, ye yourselves, know the, soul of a sojourner; for sojourners, became ye in the land of Egypt.

You shall not harass a sojourner, for you know the life of a newcomer. For you yourselves also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

10 And six years, shalt thou sow thy land, —and shalt gather the yield thereof;

For six years, you shall sow your land and gather its produce.

11 but the seventh year, shalt thou let it rest and be still so shall the needy of thy people eat, and what they leave, shall the wild-beast of the field eat, —in like manner, shalt thou deal with thy vineyard with thine oliveyard.

But in the seventh year, you shall release it and cause it to rest, so that the poor of your people may eat. And whatever remains, let the beasts of the field eat it. So shall you do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 Six days, shalt thou do thy work, but on the seventh day, shalt thou keep sabbath, —that thine ox may rest and thine ass, and that the son of thy handmaid and the sojourner may be refreshed.

For six days, you shall work. On the seventh day, you shall cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the newcomer and the son of your handmaid may be refreshed.

13 And, in all that I have said unto thee, shalt thou take heed to thyself, —and the name of other gods, shalt thou not mention, it shall not be heard upon thy mouth.

Preserve all that I have said to you. And by the names of foreign gods you shall not swear; neither shall these be heard from your mouth.

14 Three times, shalt thou keep festival to me, in the year.

Three times in each year, you shall celebrate feasts to me.

15 The festival of unleavened cakes, shalt thou keep, —seven days, shalt thou eat unleavened cakes, as I commanded thee at the appointed time of the month Abib; for, therein, camest thou forth out of Egypt, —and they shall not see my face, empty-handed.

You shall keep the solemnity of unleavened bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, just as I instructed you, at the time of the month of new grain, when you departed from Egypt. You shall not appear empty-handed in my sight,

16 And the festival of harvest with the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou shalt sow in the field, And the festival of ingathering—at the outgoing of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

for it is the solemnity of the harvest of the first-fruits of your work, of whatever you have sown in the field. Likewise, it is a solemnity at the end of the season, when you will have gathered in all your crops from the field.

17 Three times in the year, shall all thy males see the face of the Lord, Yahweh.

Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.

18 Thou shalt not offer with anything leavened, the blood of my sacrifice, —neither shall the fat of my festival-sacrifice remain until morning.

You shall not immolate the blood of my victim over leaven, nor shall the fat of my solemnity remain until morning.

19 The beginning of the firstfruits of thy ground, shalt thou bring into the house of Yahweh thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of its dam.

You shall carry the first grain of the land to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a young goat in the milk of its mother.

20 Lo! I, am sending a messenger before thee, to guard thee in the way, —and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Behold, I will send my Angel, who will go before you, and preserve you on your journey, and lead you into the place that I have prepared.

21 Take thou heed of his presence, and hearken to his voice—do not vex him, -for he will not pardon your transgression, for, my name, is within him.

Heed him, and hear his voice, and do not hold him in disregard. For he will not release you when you have sinned, and my name is in him.

22 But if thou wilt indeed hearken, to his voice, and so wilt do all that I may speak, then will I be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries;

But if you listen to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will afflict those who afflict you.

23 for my messenger shall go before thee, and bring thee in—unto the Amorite and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, —so will I destroy them.

And my Angel will go before you, and he will bring you to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, whom I will crush.

24 Thou shalt not bow thyself down to their gods neither shalt thou be led to serve them, neither shalt thou do according to their works, —but thou shalt, verily overthrow, them, and, completely break in pieces, their pillars.

You shall not adore their gods, nor worship them. You shall not do their works, but you shall destroy them and break apart their statues.

25 So shall ye serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless thy bread and thy water, —and I will take away sickness out of thy midst.

And you shall serve the Lord your God, so that I may bless your bread and your waters, and so that I may take away sickness from your midst.

26 There shall be nothing casting its young or barren in thy land, —the number of thy days, will I make full.

There will not be fruitless or barren ones in your land. I will fill up the number of your days.

27 My terror, will I send before thee, and will confound all the people amongst whom thou shalt come, and will deliver up all thine enemies unto thee as they flee.

I will send my terror to run ahead of you, and I will kill all the people to whom you will enter. And I will turn the backs of all your enemies before you,

28 And I will send the hornet, before thee, —and it shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

sending wasps ahead, so that they will put to flight the Hivite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, before you enter.

29 I will not drive them out from before thee, in one year, —lest the land should become a desolation, so would the wild-beast of the field multiply over thee.

I will not cast them out from your face in one year, lest the land be reduced to a wilderness and the wild beasts increase against you.

30 Little by little, will I drive them out from before thee. until thou become fruitful, then shalt thou take possession of the land.

I will expel them little by little from your sight, until you have expanded and may possess the land.

31 So will I set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines and from the desert unto the River (Euphrates), —for I will deliver into your hand the inhabitants of the land, so shalt thou drive them out from before thee.

Then I will set your limits to be from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Palestinians, and from the desert all the way to the river. I will deliver into your hands the inhabitants of the land, and I will cast them out from your sight.

32 Thou shalt not make with them or with their gods, a covenant:

You shall not enter into a pact with them, nor with their gods.

33 they shall not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against me, —for thou mightest serve their gods, verily! it would become to thee a snare!

They may not live on your land, lest perhaps they may cause you to sin against me, if you serve their gods, which certainly would be a temptation for you.”