23:1 “You shall not give a false report; you shall not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness [promoting wrong and violence].
23:2 You shall not follow a crowd to do [something] evil, nor shall you testify at a trial or in a dispute so as to side with a crowd in order to pervert justice;
23:3 nor shall you favor or be partial to a poor man in his dispute [simply because he is poor].
23:4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering off, you must bring it back to him.
23:5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].
23:6 “You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute.
23:7 Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.
23:8 “You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
23:9 “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.
23:10 “You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield,
23:11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
23:12 “Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.
23:13 Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.
23:14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me.
23:15 You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings].
23:16 Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.
23:17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.
23:18 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.
23:19 “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
23:20 “Behold, I am going to send an Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
23:21 Be on your guard before Him, listen to and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name (authority) is in Him.
23:22 But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23:23 When My Angel goes before you and brings you to [the land of] the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, I will reject them and completely destroy them.
23:24 You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].
23:25 You shall serve [only] the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you.
23:26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
23:27 I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight].
23:28 I will send hornets ahead of you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.
23:29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.
23:30 I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land.
23:31 I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you.
23:32 You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
23:33 They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment].”
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