Exodus · Majority Standard Bible
Exodus 23 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
1 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.
3 And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
3 You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.
4 If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.
5 If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.
6 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
6 “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
7 “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.
8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
8 “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
9 “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
10 “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase,
11 but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
12 “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed.
13 Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.
13 “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.
14 Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
14 “You shall observe a feast to me three times a year.
15 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.
15 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty.
16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.
16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field.
17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
18 You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.
18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.
19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
19 You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
20 Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21 Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.
21 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.
22 But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
22 But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.
23 For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.
24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars.
25 So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.
25 You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
26 No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.
26 No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.
27 I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.
28 I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.
29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.
31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
31 I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Cross references (32)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 101:5; Proverbs 19:5; Deuteronomy 19:16–21; Matthew 26:59–61; Exodus 20:16
- 2 Proverbs 1:10–11; Proverbs 1:15; Luke 23:23–24; Job 31:34; Matthew 27:24–26
- 3 Leviticus 19:15; James 3:17; Psalm 82:2–3; Deuteronomy 1:17
- 4 Deuteronomy 22:1–4; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; Romans 12:17–21; Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27–28
- 5 Deuteronomy 22:4
- 6 Jeremiah 5:28; Malachi 3:5; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Isaiah 10:1–2; Exodus 23:2–3
- 7 Ephesians 4:25; Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 27:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; Romans 1:18
- 8 Deuteronomy 16:19; Isaiah 5:23; Proverbs 17:23; Proverbs 15:27; 1 Samuel 8:3
- 9 Deuteronomy 27:19; Exodus 22:21; Deuteronomy 24:14–18; Matthew 18:33; Exodus 21:21
- 10 Leviticus 25:3–4
- 11 Leviticus 25:2–7; Leviticus 26:34–35; Leviticus 25:11–12; Leviticus 25:20; Leviticus 25:22
- 12 Luke 13:14; Exodus 35:3; Exodus 31:15–16; Exodus 20:8–11; Exodus 34:21
- 13 Joshua 23:7; Zechariah 13:2; Deuteronomy 4:9; 1 Timothy 4:16; Hosea 2:17
- 14 Deuteronomy 16:16; Leviticus 23:34; Exodus 23:17; Leviticus 23:16; Exodus 34:22–24
- 15 Luke 22:7; Proverbs 3:9–10; Exodus 34:20; Numbers 28:16–25; Deuteronomy 16:16
- 16 Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:9–21; Leviticus 23:34–44; Exodus 22:29; Numbers 29:12–39
- 17 Deuteronomy 16:16; Exodus 34:23; Deuteronomy 31:11; Psalm 84:7; Exodus 23:14
- 18 Exodus 34:25; Deuteronomy 16:4; Exodus 12:10; Leviticus 2:11; Leviticus 7:15
- 19 Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21; Nehemiah 10:35; Deuteronomy 26:10; Exodus 22:29
- 20 Exodus 33:14; Psalm 91:11; Exodus 32:34; Exodus 14:19; Exodus 33:2
- 21 Psalm 78:56; Hebrews 12:25; Psalm 78:40; John 10:38; John 10:30
- 22 Genesis 12:3; Deuteronomy 30:7; Zechariah 2:8; Jeremiah 30:20; Acts 9:4–5
- 23 Exodus 23:20; Isaiah 5:13; Genesis 34:2; Genesis 15:19–21; Exodus 32:2
- 24 Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 12:30–31; Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5; Deuteronomy 12:3
- 25 Deuteronomy 7:15; Exodus 15:26; Joshua 22:5; Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 33:24
- 26 Deuteronomy 7:14; Deuteronomy 28:4; Job 5:26; Job 21:10; Isaiah 65:20
- 27 Deuteronomy 2:25; Genesis 35:5; Deuteronomy 11:25; Deuteronomy 7:23; Psalm 18:40
- 28 Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:11–12
- 29 Deuteronomy 7:22; Judges 3:1–4; Joshua 17:12–13; Joshua 15:63; Joshua 16:10
- 31 Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 21:44; Numbers 34:3–15; Joshua 1:4
- 32 Exodus 34:12; Deuteronomy 7:2; Exodus 34:15; 2 Corinthians 6:15; Psalm 106:35
- 33 Psalm 106:36; Deuteronomy 7:16; Joshua 23:13; Exodus 34:12; Judges 2:3
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… thy sins which thou hast committed aforetime are come to light; for thou hast pronounced false judgments, and hast been accustomed to condemn the innocent, and to let the guilty go free, albeit the Lord saith, The innocent and the righteous shalt thou not slay." Of whom also did the Lord say: "But if the evil servant shall say in …