Exodus 23

Justice and Mercyⓘ

Justice in court and toward enemies¹“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. ³And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

⁴If you encounter your enemyʼs stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

⁶You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. ⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

⁸Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbath Lawsⓘ

Sabbath years and days¹⁰For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, ¹¹but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹²For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

¹³Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

The Three Feasts of Pilgrimageⓘ

Three annual feasts¹⁴Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

¹⁵You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread^a as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib^b you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

¹⁶You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest^c with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field.

And keep the Feast of Ingathering^d at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

¹⁷Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God.

¹⁸You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

¹⁹Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its motherʼs milk.

Godʼs Angel to Leadⓘ

The angel and a promise of blessing²⁰Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. ²¹Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. ²³For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

²⁴You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

²⁵So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless^e your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. ²⁶No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

Driving out the nations and no covenants²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. ²⁸I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

²⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

³¹And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea^f to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates.^g For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. ³²You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. ³³They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”