Exodus 23
Laws About Justice and Mercy
1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Judgment: Deuteronomy 1:17, Acts 25:9. Evil: Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 4:14. Parallel theme: 1 Kings 19:10, Job 31:34, Proverbs 1:15, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:51, Acts 24:27 +5
3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Parallel theme: Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 1:17, James 3:17
4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. Parallel theme: Deuteronomy 22:4
6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Judgment: Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 16:19, 27:19, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Jeremiah 5:28, Malachi 3:5
7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. Righteousness: Exodus 23:1, Romans 1:18. Evil: 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Parallel theme: Exodus 34:7, Leviticus 19:11, Deuteronomy 27:25, Ephesians 4:25 +2
8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. References Egypt: Exodus 22:21. Parallel theme: Deuteronomy 27:19, Matthew 18:33
Sabbath Laws and Festivals
10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth. References God: Deuteronomy 12:3, Joshua 23:7, Psalms 16:4, Jeremiah 10:11, Hebrews 12:15. Parallel theme: Deuteronomy 4:9, Hosea 2:17, Zechariah 13:2, Ephesians 5:15, 1 Timothy 4:16 +5
14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. Parallel theme: Exodus 34:22
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy GodGod: אֱלֹהִים (Elohim). The Hebrew Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) is a plural form denoting majesty and fullness of deity. Though grammatically plural, it takes singular verbs when referring to the one true God, suggesting the Trinity's plurality within unity.. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. References God: Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21, 26:2, 26:10, Revelation 14:4. References Lord: Nehemiah 10:35. Parallel theme: Exodus 22:29, Proverbs 12:10, Jeremiah 10:3, 1 Corinthians 15:20 +5
God's Angel to Lead Israel
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Parallel theme: Exodus 14:19, 32:34, 33:2, 33:14, Joshua 6:2, Psalms 91:11, Isaiah 63:9, Malachi 3:1, Matthew 25:34, John 14:3 +5
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the LORDLord: יְהוָה / אֲדֹנָי (YHWH / Adonai). When 'LORD' appears in small capitals, it represents the Tetragrammaton YHWH (יְהוָה), God's personal covenant name meaning 'I AM.' When 'Lord' appears normally, it's Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), meaning 'my Lord,' emphasizing sovereignty. your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. References Lord: Deuteronomy 7:15. References God: Exodus 15:26, Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:12, 10:20, Joshua 22:5, Matthew 4:10. Blessing: Deuteronomy 7:13. Parallel theme: Psalms 103:3, Isaiah 33:24 +5
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. Parallel theme: Deuteronomy 7:22, Joshua 15:63, 16:10
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Parallel theme: Genesis 15:18, Deuteronomy 11:24, Joshua 1:4, 21:44, 24:18, Judges 1:4, 11:21, 1 Kings 4:21, 4:24, Psalms 72:8 +5
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. References God: Deuteronomy 7:16, 12:30, Joshua 23:13, Judges 2:3. Parallel theme: Exodus 34:12, Psalms 106:36