Exodus

Exodus 23

1Laws concerning slander, false witness, and partial favouring of the poor; 4charitableness; 6justice in judgment; 8taking bribes; 9oppressing a stranger; 10the year of rest; 12the sabbath. 13A caution against idolatry. 14Laws concerning the three set feasts; 18the blood and fat of the sacrifice; and the firstfruits. 20An Angel is promised for a guide, with a blessing, if they obey him.

1THOU ^ashalt not ¹raise a false report: ^bput not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

a ch. 20.16. Ps. 15.3. 1Sa. 24.9. Le. 19.16. Pr. 25.23. b Ps. 35.11. De. 19.16,19,21. v.1,10. Mat. 26.54,60. Ac. 6.11,13.

2¶Thou ^cshalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou ²speak in a cause to ^*decline after many to ^*wrest judgment :

c Ge. 6.12. Ro. 12.2. Le. 19.15. De. 1.17; 16.19. Ep. 5.7,11. Ps. 10.1,10-18.

3¶Neither shalt thou ^dcountenance a poor man in his cause.

d Ps. 82.2,3; 58.1. Le. 19.15,32. Zec. 8.16; 7.9,10. De. 16.19.

4¶If thou ^emeet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

e De. 22.1-3. Job24.3; 31.29. Pr. 24.17; 25.21. Mat. 5.44. Ro. 12.20. Lu. 6.27. Phi. 2.4. 1Th. 5.15.

5^fIf thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, ³and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

f De. 22.4. Ga. 6.2.

6Thou shalt not ^g*wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

g Ps. 82.4. De. 16.19; 24.17; 27.19. 1Sa. 8.2. Pr. 14.31; 28.3. Job 31.13. Ec. 5.8. Is. 10.1,2.

7^hKeep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for ⁱI will not justify the wicked.

h 1Th. 5.22. Job22.28. Pr. 4.14,15. v.2. i ch. 34.7. Ro. 2.1,2. Pr. 17.15.

8¶And ^jthou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth ⁴the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

j De. 16.19. Ac. 24.26. Pr. 17.23; 19.6. Is. 1.23. Ec. 7.7. 1Sa. 8.3. Eze. 22.12.

9¶Also ^kthou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the ⁵heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

k ch. 22.21,22. Le. 19.33. De. 10.18,19; 24.14,17.

10And ^lsix years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

l Le. 25.2-4,20. De. 15.9.

11But 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 ⁶oliveyard.

12^mSix 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.

m ch. 20.8,10; 16.23,26; 31.15,16; 35.2,3. De. 5.13-15. Ne. 13.15-22. Je. 17.21,22. Is. 58.13; 56.2,3,6. Lu. 13.11,14; 23.56.

13And in all things that I have said unto you be ⁿcircumspect: and ^omake no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

n Ep. 5.15. De. 12.32. o De. 12.3. Jos. 23.7. Ho. 2.17. Zec. 13.2. Ps. 16.4. 1Jn. 5.21.

14¶^pThree times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

p De. 16.16. v.17. ch. 34.23. Le. 23.5-44. 2Ch. 8.13.

15^qThou 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: ^rand none shall appear before me empty:)

q ch. 13.3; 12.15,18; 34.18. Le. 23.5-8. Nu. 28.17. De. 16.8. r De. 16.16,17. Pr. 3.9. ch. 34.20. 1Sa. 6.3.

16And the ^sfeast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the ^tfeast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

s Le. 23.10,15,16. ch. 22.29; 34.22. De. 16.9,10. Nu. 28.26. Ac. 2.1; 20.16. t ch. 34.22. Le. 23.24-36. Nu. 29.12-38. De. 16.13. 1Ki. 8.62-66. Ne. 8.13-18. Zec. 14.16.

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

u De. 12.5-7; 16.16. ch. 34.23,24. v.14.

18Thou ^vshalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my ⁷sacrifice ^wremain until the morning.

v ch. 12.8,15; 34.25. Le. 2.11. De. 16.3,4. w ch. 12.10; 16.19; 29.34. Le. 7.15. Nu. 9.12. De. 16.4.

19^xThe first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. ^yThou shalt not ^*seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

x ch. 34.26; 22.29. De. 12.5-7. Pr. 3.9; 8.17. Le. 2.12. y De. 14.21. ch. 34.26. Pr. 12.10. Je. 10.2,3.

20¶^zBehold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the ^aplace which I have prepared.

z ch. 33.2,14; 14.19. 1Co. 10.9,10. Ps. 121.4-8. Jos. 5.13,14. Is. 63.9-13. a Ge. 12.7; 15.18. Jn. 14.2. Mat. 22.4; 25.34. He. 11.16.

21Beware ^bof him, and obey his voice, ^cprovoke him not; for he will not ^dpardon your transgressions: for my ^ename is in him.

b Ps. 2.10-12. Mat. 17.5. He. 2.3; 10.29; 12.25. c Ps. 78.40,56. d Nu. 14.35. He. 3.11,19; 10.26-29. 2Ki. 24.4. e Col. 2.9. Jn. 10.30; 5.23,24. Ac. 17.31.

22But if thou shalt indeed ^fobey his voice, and do all that I speak; then ^gI will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and ⁸an adversary unto thine adversaries.

f ch. 19.5. Ps. 81.13. g Ge. 12.2,3. Nu. 24.9. De. 30.7. Je. 30.20.

23^hFor mine Angel shall go before thee, and ⁱbring 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.

h Is. 63.9; 42.16. Jos. 24.11. ch. 3.8; 33.2,3; 34.11,24. v.20. Ge. 12.7; 13.15; 15.18-21. De. 7.1. i ch. 13.5.

24Thou ^jshalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: ^kbut thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down ^ltheir images.

j ch. 20.5. Le. 18.3. De. 12.31,32; 11.16. 1Jn. 5.21. k ch. 34.13. De. 12.2,3; 7.5,25. Nu. 33.52. 2Ki. 10.27; 23.8,12. l 2Ki. 18.4; 23.14.

25And ^mye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

m De. 7.13,15; 28.1-14. Le. 26.1-13. ch. 15.26. Ps. 103.3; 147.3. Is. 63.9; 61.1-3. Je. 30.17.

26¶There ⁿshall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: ^othe number of thy days I will fulfil.

n De. 7.14. Job 21.9-12; 22.21; 42.17. Ps. 144.12,13. o Ge. 15.15. ch. 20.12. De. 5.16. Ps. 55.23.

27I will send my ^pfear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their ⁹backs unto thee.

p v.28. ch. 14.24; 15.16. De. 2.25; 28.10. Ge. 35.5. Jos. 10.10; 2.9; 5.1. 2Sa. 5.24. 2Ki. 7.6.

28And ^qI will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

q Jos. 24.12. De. 7.20.

29I will ^rnot drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

r De. 7.22. Jos. 11.18; 14.7,10. Ju. 1; 4. Job17.9. Pr. 4.18.

30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31And ^sI 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 ^tdeliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

s v.23. ch. 3.8. De. 11.24. Ge. 15.18-21. Nu. 34.1-16; 32. Jos. 1.4. 1Ki. 4.21,24. t Jos. 21.44.

32Thou ^ushalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

u ch. 34.12,15. De. 7.2,5,16,25. Jos. 23.7,12; 9.6,7.

33They ^vshall 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.

v ch. 34.12. Nu. 25.1,2. De. 7.16,25. Jos. 23.13. Ju. 2.3. Ps. 106.36. Pr. 13.14,20. 1Sa. 18.21.