Exo 23 | NASB2020 | STEP | “ You shall not give a false report ; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a malicious witness .

Exodus 23

Various Laws

1 “ ^aYou shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a ^bmalicious witness. 2 You shall not follow ^{▼▼Lit many}the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you ^{▼▼Or answer}testify in a dispute so as to join together with ^{▼▼Lit many}a crowd in order to ^fpervert justice; 3 ^gnor shall you ^{▼▼Lit honor}show favor to a poor person in his dispute.

4 “ ⁱIf you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. 5 ^jIf you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for ^{▼▼Lit him}its owner; you must arrange the load with him.

6 “ ^lYou shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 ^mKeep far from a false charge, and ⁿdo not kill the innocent or the righteous, for ^oI will not acquit the guilty.

8 “ ^pYou shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and ^{▼▼Or distorts the words}subverts the cause of the just.

9 “ ^rYou shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the ^{▼▼Lit soul}feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and the Land

10 “Now ^tyou shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it ^{▼▼Lit drop}rest and lie uncultivated, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the animal of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “ ^vFor six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves. 13 Now ^wconcerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and ^xdo not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard ^{▼▼Lit on}from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14 “ ^zThree times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall keep ^aathe Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^abmonth of Abib, for in ^{▼▼Lit it}that month you came out of Egypt. And ^{▼▼Lit they shall not
,} ^aeno one is to appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall keep ^afthe Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year ^agwhen you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 ^ahThree times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God.

18 “ ^ajYou shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; ^aknor is the fat of My ^{▼▼Or festival}feast to remain overnight until morning.

19 “You shall bring ^amthe choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“ ^anYou are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Conquest of the Land

20 “Behold, I am going to send ^aoan angel before you to guard you along the way and ^apto bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey his voice; ^aqdo not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your rebellion, since ^arMy name is in him. 22 But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then ^asI will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 ^atFor My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 24 ^auYou shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; ^avbut you shall utterly overthrow them and break their ^awmemorial stones in pieces. 25 ^axAnd you shall serve the Lord your God, ^{▼▼Or that He may bless}and He will bless your bread and your water; and ^azI will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There will be no one miscarrying or ^baunable to have children in your land; ^bbI will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will ^bcsend My terror ahead of you, and ^bdthrow into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will ^bemake all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send ^bfhornets ahead of you so that they will ^bgdrive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from you. 29 ^bhI will not drive them out from you in a single year, so that the land will not become desolate and the animals of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out from you ^bilittle by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 31 ^bjI will set your boundary from the ^{▼▼Lit Sea of Reeds}Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River; ^blfor I will hand over the inhabitants of the land to you, and you will ^bmdrive them out from you. 32 ^bnYou shall ^{▼▼Lit cut}make no covenant with them ^bpor with their gods. 33 ^bqThey shall not live in your land, otherwise they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, ^brit is certain to be a snare to you.”