Exodus 23

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.	1 "You shall not repeat a false report. Do not join the wicked in putting your hand, as an unjust witness, upon anyone.
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:	2 Neither shall you allege the example of the many as an excuse for doing wrong, nor shall you, when testifying in a lawsuit, side with the many in perverting justice.
3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.	3 You shall not favor a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.	4 "When you come upon your enemy's ox or ass going astray, see to it that it is returned to him.
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.	5 When you notice the ass of one who hates you lying prostrate under its burden, by no means desert him; help him, rather, to raise it up.
6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.	6 "You shall not deny one of your needy fellow men his rights in his lawsuit.
7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.	7 You shall keep away from anything dishonest. The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, nor shall you acquit the guilty.
8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.	8 Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds even the most clear-sighted and twists the words even of the just.
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.	9 You shall not oppress an alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:	10 "For six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce.
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.	11 But the seventh year you shall let the land lie untilled and unharvested, that the poor among you may eat of it and the beasts of the field may eat what the poor leave. So also shall you do in regard to your vineyard and your olive grove.
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.	12 "For six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest, that your ox and your ass may also have rest, and that the son of your maidservant and the alien 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.	13 Give heed to all that I have told you. "Never mention the name of any other god; it shall not be heard from your lips.
14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.	14 "Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me.
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:)	15 You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, you must eat unleavened bread for seven days at the prescribed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me empty-handed.
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.	16 You shall also keep the feast of the grain harvest with the first of the crop that you have sown in the field; and finally, the feast at the fruit harvest at the end of the year, when you gather in the produce from the fields.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.	17 Thrice a year shall all your men 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.	18 "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of my feast be kept overnight till the next day.
19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.	19 The choicest first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the LORD, your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
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.	20 "See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.	21 Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority resides 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.	22 If you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.	23 "My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out.
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.	24 Therefore, you shall not bow down in worship before their gods, nor shall you make anything like them; rather, you must demolish them and smash their sacred pillars.
25 And ye 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.	25 The LORD, your God, you shall worship; then I will bless your food and drink, and I will remove all sickness from your midst;
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.	26 no woman in your land will be barren or miscarry; and I will give you a full span of life.
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.	27 "I will have the fear of me precede you, so that I will throw into panic every nation you reach. I will make all your enemies turn from you in flight,
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.	28 and ahead of you I will send hornets to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.
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.	29 But not in one year will I drive them all out before you; else the land will become so desolate that the wild beasts will multiply against you.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.	30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little before you, until you have grown numerous enough to take possession of 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.	31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River; all who dwell in this land I will hand over to you to be driven out of your way.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.	32 You shall not make a covenant with them or 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.	33 They must not abide in your land, lest they make you sin against me by ensnaring you into worshiping their gods."