Exodus 23:1–13

Sundry Laws

1 “aYou shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a bmalicious witness.

2 “You shall not follow 1the masses in doing evil, nor shall you 2testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after 1a multitude in order to apervert justice;

3 anor shall you 1be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

4 “aIf you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.

5 “aIf you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.

6 “aYou shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.

7 “aKeep far from a false charge, and bdo not kill the innocent or the righteous, for cI will not acquit the guilty.

8 “aYou shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and 1subverts the cause of the just.

9 “aYou shall not oppress a 1stranger, since you yourselves know the 2feelings of a 1stranger, for you also were 1strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

10 “aYou shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,

11 but on the seventh year you shall let it 1rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “aSix days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as 1your stranger, may refresh themselves.

13 “Now aconcerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and bdo not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard 1from your mouth.