Exodus 22:16–24:18

Social Responsibility

16 “If a man seduces a virginq who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price,r and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

18 “Do not allow a sorceresss to live.

19 “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animalt is to be put to death.

20 “Whoever sacrifices to any godu other than the Lord must be destroyed.e v

21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner,w for you were foreignersx in Egypt.

22 “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.y 23 If you do and they cry outz to me, I will certainly hear their cry.a 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.b

25 “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.c 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge,d return it by sunset, 27 because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in?e When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.f

28 “Do not blaspheme Godf g or curseh the ruler of your people.i

29 “Do not hold back offeringsj from your granaries or your vats.g

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons.k 30 Do the same with your cattle and your sheep.l Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.m

31 “You are to be my holy people.n So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts;o throw it to the dogs.

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.p Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.q

2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justicer by siding with the crowd,s 3 and do not show favoritismt to a poor person in a lawsuit.

4 “If you come across your enemy’su ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.v 5 If you see the donkeyw of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

6 “Do not deny justicex to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false chargey and do not put an innocentz or honest person to death,a for I will not acquit the guilty.b

8 “Do not accept a bribe,c for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;d you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.e Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Six days do your work,f but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.g

13 “Be carefulh to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;i do not let them be heard on your lips.j

The Three Annual Festivals

14 “Three timesk a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;l for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,m for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.n

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvesto with the firstfruitsp of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingatheringq at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.r

17 “Three timess a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.t

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.u

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruitsv of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.w

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way

20 “See, I am sending an angelx ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.y 21 Pay attention to him and listenz to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgivea your rebellion,b since my Namec is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and dod all that I say, I will be an enemye to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,f and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worshipg them or follow their practices.h You must demolishi them and break their sacred stonesj to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,k and his blessingl will be on your food and water. I will take away sicknessm from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barrenn in your land. I will give you a full life span.o

27 “I will send my terrorp ahead of you and throw into confusionq every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.r 28 I will send the hornets ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittitest out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animalsu too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possessionv of the land.

31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Seaa to the Mediterranean Sea,b and from the desert to the Euphrates River.w I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them outx before you. 32 Do not make a covenanty with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snarez to you.”

The Covenant Confirmed

24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron,a Nadab and Abihu,b and seventy of the eldersc of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approachd the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”

3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws,e they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”f 4 Moses then wroteg down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altarh at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillarsi representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offeringsj and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offeringsk to the Lord. 6 Mosesl took half of the bloodm and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashedn against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenanto and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”p

8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the peopleq and said, “This is the blood of the covenantr that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elderss of Israel went up 10 and sawt the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli,u as bright blue as the sky.v 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saww God, and they ate and drank.x

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stoney with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshuaz his aide, and Moses went up on the mountaina of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hurb are with you, and anyone involved in a disputec can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloudd covered it, 16 and the glorye of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.f For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.g 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fireh on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain fortyi days and forty nights.j