Parallel Bible results for "exodus 23"

Exodus 23

New Living Translation NLT

1 “You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.

2 “You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.

3 And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.

4 “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner.

5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.

6 “In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.

7 “Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.

8 “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.

9 “You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 “Plant and harvest your crops for six years,

11 but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

12 “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed.

13 “Pay close attention to all my instructions. You must not call on the name of any other gods. Do not even speak their names.

14 “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor.

15 First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.

16 “Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest. “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields.

17 At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the LORD .

18 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with any baked goods containing yeast. And do not leave the fat from the festival offerings until the next morning.

19 “As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20 “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.

21 Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion.

22 But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.

23 For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely.

24 You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.

25 “You must serve only the LORD your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness.

26 There will be no miscarriages or infertility in your land, and I will give you long, full lives.

27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

28 I will send terror ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites.

29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you.

30 I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land.

31 And I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people now living in the land, and you will drive them out ahead of you.

32 “Make no treaties with them or their gods.

33 They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.”

Common English Bible CEB

1 Don't spread false rumors. Don't plot with evil people to act as a lying witness.

2 Don't take sides with important people to do wrong. When you act as a witness, don't stretch the truth to favor important people.

3 But don't privilege unimportant people in their lawsuits either.

4 When you happen to come upon your enemy's ox or donkey that has wandered off, you should bring it back to them.

5 When you see a donkey that belongs to someone who hates you and it's lying down under its load and you are inclined not to help set it free, you must help set it free.

6 Don't undermine the justice that your poor deserve in their lawsuits.

7 Stay away from making a false charge. Don't put an innocent person who is in the right to death, because I will not consider innocent those who do such evil.

8 Don't take a bribe, because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

9 Don't oppress an immigrant. You know what it's like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt.

10 For six years you should plant crops on your land and gather in its produce.

11 But in the seventh year you should leave it alone and undisturbed so that the poor among your people may eat. What they leave behind, the wild animals may eat. You should do the same with your vineyard and your olive trees.

12 Do your work in six days. But on the seventh day you should rest so that your ox and donkey may rest, and even the child of your female slave and the immigrant may be refreshed.

13 Be careful to obey everything that I have said to you. Don't call on the names of other gods. Don't even mention them.

14 You should observe a festival for me three times a year.

15 Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, as I commanded you. Eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, because it was in that month that you came out of Egypt. No one should appear before me empty-handed.

16 Observe the Harvest Festival for the early produce of your crops that you planted in the field, and the Gathering Festival at the end of the year, when you gather your crop of fruit from the field.

17 All your males should appear three times a year before the LORD God.

18 Don't offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. Don't let the fat of my festival offering be left over until the morning.

19 Bring the best of your land's early produce to the LORD your God's temple. Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

20 I'm about to send a messenger in front of you to guard you on your way and to bring you to the place that I've made ready.

21 Pay attention to him and do as he says. Don't rebel against him. He won't forgive the things you do wrong because I am with him.

22 But if you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, then I'll be an enemy to your enemies and fight those fighting you.

23 When my messenger goes in front of you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I wipe them out,

24 don't bow down to their gods, worship them, or do what they do. Instead, you should completely destroy them and smash their sacred stone pillars to bits.

25 If you worship the LORD your God, the LORD will bless your bread and your water. I'll take sickness away from you,

26 and no woman will miscarry or be infertile in your land. I'll let you live a full, long life.

27 My terrifying reputation will precede you, and I'll throw all the people that you meet into a panic. I'll make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28 I'll send insect swarms in front of you and drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.

29 I won't drive them out before you in a single year so the land won't be abandoned and the wild animals won't multiply around you.

30 I'll drive them out before you little by little, until your numbers grow and you eventually possess the land.

31 I'll set your borders from the Reed Sea to the Philistine Sea and from the desert to the River. I'll hand the inhabitants of the land over to you, and you will drive them out before you.

32 Don't make any covenants with them or their gods.

33 Don't allow them to live in your land, or else they will lead you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a dangerous trap for you.