Exodus 23:10-20

10 Sixe yeres thou shalt sowe thi londe ad gather in the frutes theroff:

11 and the seuenth yere thou shalt let it rest and lye styll, that the poore of thi people maye eate, and what they leaue, the beestes of the felde shall eate: In like maner thou shalt do with thi vyneyarde ad thine olyue trees.

12 Sixe dayes thou shalt do thi worke ad the seuenth daye thou shalt kepe holie daye, that thyne oxe and thine asse maye rest ad the sonne of thi mayde and the straunger maye be refresshed.

13 And in all thinges that I haue sayde vnto you be circumspecte.And make no rehersall of the names of straunge goddes, nether let any man heare the out of youre mouthes.

14 Thre feastes thou shalt holde vnto me in a yere

15 Thou shalt kepe the feast of swete bred that thou eate vnleuend bred .vij. dayes loge as I comaunded the in the tyme appoynted of the moneth of Abib, for in that moneth thou camest out of Egipte: ad se that noman appeare before me emptie.

16 And the feast of Heruest, when thou reapest the firstfrutes of thy laboures which thou hast sowne in the felde. And the feast of ingaderynge, in the ende of the yere: when thou hast gathered in thy laboures out of the felde.

17 Thre tymes in a yere shall all thy men childern appere before the Lorde Iehouah.

18 Thou shalt not offer the bloude of my sacrifyce with leuended bred: nether shall the fatt of my feast remayne vntill the mornynge.

19 The first of the firstfrutes of thy lode thou shalt bringe in to the housse of the Lorde thy God thou shalt also not seth a kyde in his mothers mylke

20 Beholde, I sende mine angell before the, to kepe the in the waye, and to brynge the in to the place which I haue prepared

Exodus 23:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1-3,6-8, concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall under their burden, Ex 23:4,5, and of the oppression of a stranger, Ex 23:9, and then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Ex 23:10-13, next are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Ex 23:14-17, and concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first of the firstfruits of the land, Ex 23:18,19 and then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with them, Ex 23:20-26, and particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it, which are fixed, Ex 23:27-31, and the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be a snare unto them, Ex 23:32,33.