Exodus 23
23
Equal Justice for All
The Lord said:
1 #
Ex 20.16; Lv 19.11,12; Dt 5.20. Don't spread harmful rumors or help a criminal by giving false evidence.
2Always tell the truth in court, even if everyone else is#23.2 everyone else is: Or “the authorities are.” dishonest and stands in the way of justice. 3#Lv 19.15. And don't favor the poor, simply because they are poor.
4 #
Dt 22.1-4. If you find an ox or a donkey that has wandered off, take it back where it belongs, even if the owner is your enemy.
5If a donkey is overloaded and falls down, you must do what you can to help, even if it belongs to someone who doesn't like you.#23.5 you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.
6 #
Lv 19.15; Dt 16.18,19. Make sure that the poor are given equal justice in court. 7Don't bring false charges against anyone or sentence an innocent person to death. I won't forgive you if you do.
8Don't accept bribes. Judges are blinded and justice is twisted by bribes.
9 #
Ex 22.21; Lv 19.33,34; Dt 24.17,18; 27.14-26. Don't mistreat foreigners. You were foreigners in Egypt, and you know what it is like.
Laws for the Sabbath
The Lord said:
10 #
Lv 25.1-7. Plant and harvest your crops for six years, 11but let the land rest during the seventh year. The poor are to eat what they want from your fields, vineyards, and olive trees during that year, and when they have all they want from your fields, leave the rest for wild animals.
12 #
Ex 20.9-11; 31.15; 34.21; 35.2; Lv 23.3; Dt 5.13,14. Work the first six days of the week, but rest and relax on the seventh day. This law is not only for you, but for your oxen, donkeys, and slaves, as well as for any foreigners among you.
13Make certain that you obey everything I have said. Don't pray to other gods or even mention their names.
Three Annual Festivals
(Exodus 34.18-26; Deuteronomy 16.1-17)
The Lord said:
14Celebrate three festivals each year in my honor.
15 #
Ex 12.14-20; Lv 23.6-8; Nu 28.17-25. Celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread by eating bread made without yeast, just as I have commanded.#23.15 as I have commanded: See 12.14-20. Do this at the proper time during the month of Abib,#23.15 Abib: See the note at 12.2. because it is the month when you left Egypt. And make certain that everyone brings the proper offerings.
16 #
Lv 23.15-21; Nu 28.26-31;
Lv 23.39-43. Celebrate the Harvest Festival#23.16 Harvest Festival: Traditionally called the “Festival of Weeks” and known in New Testament times as “Pentecost.” each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters#23.16 Festival of Shelters: The Hebrew text has “Festival of Ingathering” (so also in 34.22), which was the final harvesting of crops and fruits before the autumn rains began. But the usual name was “Festival of Shelters.” each autumn when you pick your fruit.
17Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.
18Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. And make sure that the fat of the animal is burned that same day.
19 #
Dt 26.2; Ex 34.26;
Dt 14.21. Each year bring the best part of your first harvest to the place of worship.
Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
A Promise and a Warning
The Lord said:
20I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. 21Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. 22If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. 23My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images.
25Worship only me, the Lord your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. 26Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.
27I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. 28I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. 29But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. 30Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.
31I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea#23.31 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18). to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. 32But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. 33Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.
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Exodus 23: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Exodus 23
23
1 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Never spread false rumors. Don’t join forces with wicked people by giving false testimony. 2Never follow a crowd in doing wrong. When you testify in court, don’t side with the majority to pervert justice. 3Never give special favors to poor people in court.
4“Whenever you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering loose, be sure to take it back to him. 5Whenever you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, don’t leave it there. Be sure to help him with his animal.
6“Never deny justice to poor people in court. 7Avoid telling lies. Don’t kill innocent or honest people, because I will never declare guilty people innocent. 8Never take a bribe, because bribes blind those who can see and deny justice to those who are in the right.
9“Never oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be foreigners because you were foreigners living in Egypt.
10“For six years you may plant crops in your fields and harvest them, 11but in the seventh year you must leave the land unplowed and unused. In that way the poor among your people will have food to eat, and wild animals may eat what the poor people leave. You must do the same with your vineyards and olive groves.
12“For six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you must not work. Then your ox and donkey can rest. The slaves born in your household and foreigners will also be refreshed.
13“Be careful ⌞to do⌟ everything I told you.
“Never mention the names of other gods or let them be heard on your lips.
Laws for Three Festivals
14“Three times a year you must celebrate a pilgrimage festival in my honor.
15“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread: For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, because that was when you left Egypt. No one may come into my presence without an offering.
16“Celebrate the Festival of the Harvest with the first produce harvested from whatever you plant in your fields.
“Celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the year when you harvest your crops from the fields.
17“These are the three times each year that all your men must come into the presence of the Master, the Lord.
18“Never offer the blood of a sacrifice to me at the same time you offer anything containing yeast. The fat sacrificed at my festivals should never be left over in the morning.
19“You must bring the best of the first produce harvested from your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Never cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Laws about God’s Messenger, Who Will Bring Israel to the Promised Land
20“I’m going to send a Messenger in front of you to protect you on your trip and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him, and listen to him. Don’t defy him, because he will not forgive your disobedience. He is acting on my authority. 22But if you will listen to him and do everything I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an opponent to your opponents.
23“My Messenger will go ahead of you and will bring you to ⌞the land of⌟ the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. I will wipe them out. 24Never worship or serve their gods or follow their practices. Instead, you must destroy their gods and crush their sacred stones. 25You must serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your food and water. I will take away all sickness from among you. 26No woman in your land will miscarry or be unable to have children. I will let you live a normal life span.
27“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw any nation you meet into a panic. I will make all your enemies flee from you. 28I will spread panic ahead of you to force the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites out of your way. 29I will not force them out of your way in one year. Otherwise, the land would be deserted, and wild animals would take over. 30Little by little I will force them out of your way until you have increased enough in number to take possession of the land.
31“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Sinai Desert to the Euphrates River. I will put the people living in the land under your control, and you will force them out of your way. 32Never make a treaty with them and their gods. 33Never let them live in your land, or they will make you sin against me and trap you into serving their gods.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.