Exodus 23:1-13

New American Standard Bible

Various Laws

23 “^(A)You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a ^(B)malicious witness. ² You shall not follow ^[a]the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you ^[b]testify in a dispute so as to join together with ^[c]a crowd in order to ^(C)pervert justice; ^3 (D)nor shall you ^[d]show favor to a poor person in his dispute.

⁴ “^(E)If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. ^5 (F)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for ^[e]its owner; you must arrange the load with him.

⁶ “^(G)You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. ^7 (H)Keep far from a false charge, and ^(I)do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for ^(J)I will not acquit the guilty.

⁸ “^(K)You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and ^[f]subverts the cause of the just.

⁹ “^(L)You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the ^[g]feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and the Land

¹⁰ “Now ^(M)you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, ¹¹ but in the seventh year you shall let it ^[h]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 “^(N)For 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 ^(O)concerning everything which I have said to you, be careful; and ^(P)do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard ^[i]from your mouth.