Exodus, 23

1. 'You will not spread false rumours. You will not lend support to the wicked by giving untrue evidence.

1. "You shall not utter a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man, to be a malicious witness.

2. You will not be led into wrong-doing by the majority nor, when giving evidence in a lawsuit, side with the majority to pervert the course of justice;

2. You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; nor shall you bear witness in a suit, turning aside after a multitude, so as to pervert justice;

3. nor will you show partiality to the poor in a lawsuit.

3. nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his suit.

4. 'If you come on your enemy's ox or donkey straying, you will take it back to him.

4. "If you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray, you shall bring it back to him.

5. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, do not stand back; you must go and help him with it.

5. If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it, you shall help him to lift it up.

6. 'You will not cheat the poor among you of their rights at law.

6. "You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his suit.

7. Keep clear of fraud. Do not cause the death of the innocent or upright, and do not acquit the guilty.

7. Keep far from a false charge, and do not slay the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.

8. You will accept no bribes, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and is the ruin of the cause of the upright.

8. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

9. 'You will not oppress the alien; you know how an alien feels, for you yourselves were once aliens in Egypt.

9. "You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10. 'For six years you will sow your land and gather its produce,

10. "For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield;

11. but in the seventh year you will let it lie fallow and forgo all produce from it, so that those of your people who are poor can take food from it and the wild animals eat what they have left. You will do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

11. but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild beasts may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

12. 'For six days you will do your work, and on the seventh you will rest, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the child of your slave-girl have a breathing space, and the alien too.

12. "Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your ass may have rest, and the son of your bondmaid, and the alien, may be refreshed.

13. 'Take notice of everything I have told you and do not mention the name of any other god: let none ever be heard from your lips.

13. Take heed to all that I have said to you; and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let such be heard out of your mouth.

14. 'Three times a year you will hold a festival in my honour.

14. "Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.

15. You will observe the feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one will appear before me empty-handed.

15. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.

16. You will also observe the feast of Harvest, of the first-fruits of your labours in sowing the fields, and the feast of Ingathering, at the end of the year, once you have brought the fruits of your labours in from the fields.

16. You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

17. Three times a year all your menfolk will appear before Lord Yahweh.

17. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.

18. 'You will not offer the blood of my victim with leavened bread, nor will the fat of my feast be kept till the following day.

18. "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.

19. 'You will bring the best of the first-fruits of your soil to the house of Yahweh your God. 'You will not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

19. "The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

20. 'Look, I am sending an angel to precede you, to guard you as you go and bring you to the place that I have prepared.

20. "Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.

21. Revere him and obey what he says. Do not defy him: he will not forgive any wrong-doing on your part, for my name is in him.

21. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.

22. If, however, you obey what he says and do whatever I order, I shall be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

22. "But if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23. My angel will precede you and lead you to the home of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, whom I shall exterminate.

23. "When my angel goes before you, and brings you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Per'izzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, and I blot them out,

24. You will not bow down to their gods or worship them or observe their rites, but throw them down and smash their cultic stones.

24. you shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.

25. You will worship Yahweh your God, and then I shall bless your food and water, and keep you free of sickness.

25. You shall serve the LORD your God, and I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

26. In your country no woman will miscarry, none be sterile, and I shall give you your full term of life.

26. None shall cast her young or be barren in your land; I will fulfil the number of your days.

27. 'I shall send terror of myself ahead of you; I shall throw all the peoples you encounter into confusion, and make all your enemies take to their heels.

27. I will send my terror before you, and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28. I shall send hornets ahead of you to drive Hivite, Canaanite and Hittite out before you.

28. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you.

29. I shall not drive them out ahead of you in a single year, or the land might become a desert where wild animals would multiply to your cost.

29. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you.

30. I shall drive them out little by little before you, until your numbers grow sufficient for you to take possession of the land.

30. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you are increased and possess the land.

31. And your frontiers I shall fix from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I shall put the inhabitants of the territory at your mercy, and you will drive them out before you.

31. And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphra'tes; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

32. You will make no pact with them or with their gods.

32. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33. They may not stay in your country or they might make you sin against me, for you would serve their gods, and that would be a snare for you!'

33. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."