Exodus 23

CHAPTER 23

Judicial Conduct

1You shall not welcome [²report ¹a vain]. You shall not assent together with the unjust to become [²witness ¹an unjust]. 2You shall not be with many people  for evil. You shall not be added with a multitude to turn aside a judgment. 3And [⁵because one is needy ¹you shall not ²show mercy ³in ⁴a judgment]. 4And if you should meet up with the ox   of your enemy, or with his beast of burden wandering, by returning, you shall give it back to him. 5And if you should see the beast of burden   of your enemy falling under   its load of merchandise, you shall not go by it, but you shall raise it with him. 6You shall not turn aside a judgment of the needy in his judgment. 7From all things unjust you shall abstain. The innocent and the just you shall not kill. And you shall not give justice to the impious because of bribes. 8And bribes you shall not receive; for the bribes blind the eyes for seeing and lay waste [²matters ¹just]. 9And a foreigner you shall not maltreat, nor in any way afflict. For you know the soul of the foreigner, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

The Seventh Year and Day

10Six years you shall sow   your land, and you shall gather   its produce, 11but on the seventh [²a release from work  ¹you shall make], and spare it, and [⁴shall eat ¹the ²poor   ³of your nation]; and the things  being left behind of them [³shall eat ¹the ²wild beasts] of the field. Thus you shall do   with your vineyard, and   your olive grove. 12Six days you shall do   your works, but on the [²day   ¹seventh] you shall rest, that [³may rest   ²ox ¹your], and   your beast of burden, and that [⁴may be refreshed ¹the ²son   ³of your maidservant], and the foreigner. 13All, as much as I have spoken to you, guard! And the name [²gods ¹of other] you shall not call to mind, nor should one be heard from out of   your mouth.

The Three Holidays

14Three times of the year solemnize a holiday to me! 15The holiday of the unleavened breads  keep to do! Seven days you shall eat unleavened breads, just as I gave charge to you, according to the time of the month of the new produce; for in it you came forth from out of Egypt. You shall not appear before me empty. 16And a holiday of the harvest of the first produce you shall observe   of your works, what ever you sow in   your field; and a holiday of completion at the conclusion of the year in the gathering   of your works, of the ones from out of   your field. 17Three times   a year [⁴shall appear ¹every ²male ³of yours] before the lord    your God. 18For whenever I should cast out the nations from your face, and widen   your boundaries, you shall not sacrifice with yeast the blood of my sacrifice, neither shall [³remain through the night ¹the fat   ²of my holiday feast] until morning. 19The first-fruits of the first produce   of your land you shall carry into the house of the lord    your God. You shall not boil a lamb in [²milk ¹her mother's].

Warning against Serving Other Gods

20And behold, I send   my messenger before your face, that he may guard you in the way, that he may bring you into the land which I prepared for you. 21Take heed to yourself, and hearken to him, and do not resist his persuasion,   for he should not avoid you,   for my name is upon him! 22If in hearing you shall hearken   to my voice, and do all as much as I give charge to you, I will be an enemy to  your enemies, and I will be an adversary to the ones being an adversary of you. 23[³shall go ¹For   ²my messenger] leading you; and he will bring you to the Amorite, and Hittite, and Perizzite, and Canaanite, and Gergesite, and Hivite, and Jebusite; and I will obliterate them. 24You shall not do obeisance to   their gods, nor shall you serve to them. You shall not do according to   their works; but by demolition you shall demolish them, and by breaking you shall break   their monuments. 25And you shall serve to the lord    your God; and I will bless   your bread, and   your wine, and   your water; and I will turn infirmity from you. 26It will not be barren nor sterile upon   your land; the number   of your days I will fill up. 27And the fear of me I will send leading before  you; and I will startle all the nations into which you enter into them; and I will give over  all   your opponents unto exiles. 28And I will send the swarms of wasps in front of you. And I will cast out the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites from you. 29I will not cast them from your face in [²year ¹one], that [³should not become ¹the ²land] wilderness, and many [²should happen ³upon ⁴you   ¹wild beasts] in the land. 30According to little by little I will cast them from you, until whenever you should grow and be heir to the land. 31And I will establish   your boundaries from the red sea unto the sea of the Philistines; and from the wilderness unto the river of the great Euphrates. And I will deliver up into   your hands the ones lying in wait in the land; and I will cast them from you. 32You shall not assent together with them, and with  their gods   you shall not establish a covenant. 33And they shall not lie in wait in   your land, lest [²you to sin ¹they should cause] against me; for if you should be a slave to  their gods, these will be to you an occasion for stumbling.