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Exodus 23
New Catholic Bible
Exodus 23
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 23
A Righteous and Fraternal People. 1 “You shall not utter a false report. Do not join hands with the guilty to be an unjust witness. 2 Neither shall you follow the multitude in doing evil nor shall you testify in a suit in order to agree with the multitude and thus falsify justice.
3 “You shall not even show partiality toward a weak man in a lawsuit.
4 [a]“When you encounter the lost ox or donkey of your enemy, you shall bring it back to him. 5 When you see your enemy’s donkey lying helpless under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him alone. You must help him to release it.
6 “You shall not pervert justice for a needy person who turns to you in a dispute.
7 “Keep far away from falsehoods. Do not slay the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the wicked.
8 “Do not accept gifts, for gifts blind the clear-sighted and pervert the cause of the righteous.
9 “Do not oppress those who are sojourners, for you know the life of the sojourner because you yourselves were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
10 “For six years you shall sow the land and you shall harvest its produce, 11 but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow so that the needy of your people may eat of it. Whatever is left, let the beasts of the field eat it. You shall do likewise with your vineyards and your olive groves. 12 For six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest so that your ox and your donkey may rest, as well as the sons of your female slaves and your sojourners.
13 “You shall take heed of all that I have said to you. Do not mention the names of other gods, nor let them be heard on your lips.
14 Feasts and Rites To Be Observed.“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast in my honor.[b]
15 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You must eat unleavened products for seven days, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month I brought you out of the land of Egypt. You will not appear before me empty-handed.
16 “You shall also observe the Harvest Feast of the firstfruits of that which you have sown in the fields as well as the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather the fruit of your labor in the fields.
17 “Three times a year all your men shall appear before the Lord God.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, nor shall you allow the fat of my feast to remain till the morning.
19 “You shall bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid goat in its mother’s milk.[c]
20 Promises and Instructions for Entering into Canaan.[d]“Behold, I will send an angel before you to protect you on your way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay heed to him and listen to his voice and do not rebel against him for he will not pardon your transgression since my name is in him. 22 If you listen to his voice and do what I will tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 “When my angel goes before you and leads you to the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, I will destroy them. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them. You shall not do what they do, but rather you shall demolish and break their sacred pillars to pieces.
25 “You shall serve the Lord, your God. He will bless your bread and water and take away sickness from your midst. 26 There will be no woman in your land who miscarries or who is sterile. I will make you arrive at the full count of your days.
27 “I will send my terror before you and throw into confusion all the peoples among whom you will come. I will make your enemies turn their backs and flee.
28 “I will send hornets ahead of you and they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in a single year lest the country remain deserted and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you until you have many sons to occupy the land.
31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea up to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river. I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hands and I will drive them out from before you. 32 But you must not make a covenant with them or their gods. 33 They are no longer to live in your land. Otherwise, they would make you sin against me, for you would serve their gods and that would be a trap for you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:4 Every one is to be treated the same (see Deut 22:1-4). Jesus is the example par excellence in showing others what it means to “Love your enemies” (Mt 5:44).
- Exodus 23:14 The feasts are those of the springtime (Unleavened Bread—Passover; see Ex 12:1, 11), of the summer (Feast of Weeks or Pentecost: 34:22), and of autumn (harvest festivals or Booths: Lev 23:34-43; Deut 16:13). (See Ex 34:18-23; Num 28–29; Deut 16:1-16.)
- Exodus 23:19 Cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk was a pagan custom of the Canaanites.
- Exodus 23:20 Faithful service of the Lord was a condition for the entrance of the chosen people into the Promised Land. They would have to avoid defilement by other forms of worship and therefore by the peoples who practiced these. This is the context for understanding the laws regarding extermination and the anathema that were promulgated against foreigners; these laws were not applied to the letter (see Jos 6:17).
Exodus 23
New International Version
Exodus 23
New International Version
Laws of Justice and Mercy
23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) 3 and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 5 If you see the donkey(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
6 “Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)
8 “Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
Sabbath Laws
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.(P) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “Six days do your work,(Q) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.(R)
13 “Be careful(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.(U)
The Three Annual Festivals
14 “Three times(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(Y)
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest(Z) with the firstfruits(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.(AC)
17 “Three times(AD) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.(AE)
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.(AF)
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(AH)
God’s Angel to Prepare the Way
20 “See, I am sending an angel(AI) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.(AJ) 21 Pay attention to him and listen(AK) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive(AL) your rebellion,(AM) since my Name(AN) is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do(AO) all that I say, I will be an enemy(AP) to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,(AQ) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(AR) them or follow their practices.(AS) You must demolish(AT) them and break their sacred stones(AU) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,(AV) and his blessing(AW) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness(AX) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren(AY) in your land. I will give you a full life span.(AZ)
27 “I will send my terror(BA) ahead of you and throw into confusion(BB) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.(BC) 28 I will send the hornet(BD) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites(BE) out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals(BF) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession(BG) of the land.
31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(BH) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(BI) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(BJ) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(BK) to you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines
New International Version (NIV) 
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