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Exodus 23

KING JAMES BIBLE

1Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

9Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

11But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

12Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

13And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

14Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

16And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

19The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

20Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

21Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

23For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

24Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

25And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

27I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

28And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

32Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

33They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

KING JAMES 1611

1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to bee an vnrighteous witnesse.

2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to doe euill: neither shalt thou speake in a cause, to decline after many, to wrest iudgement:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poore man in his cause.

4 If thou meete thine enemies oxe or his asse going astray, thou shalt surely bring it backe to him againe.

5If thou see the asse of him that hateth thee, lying vnder his burden, and wouldest forbeare to helpe him, thou shalt surely helpe with him.

6Thou shalt not wrest the iudgement of thy poore in his cause.

7Keepe thee farre from a false matter: and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not iustifie the wicked.

8And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and peruerteth the words of the righteous.

9 Also thou shalt not oppresse a stranger: for yee know the heart of a stranger, seeing yee were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10And sixe yeres thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruites thereof:

11But the seuenth yeere thou shalt let it rest, and lie still, that the poore of thy people may eate, and what they leaue, the beasts of the field shall eate. In like maner thou shalt deale with thy vineyard, and with thy oliue yard.

12Sixe dayes thou shalt doe thy worke, and on the seuenth day thou shalt rest: that thine oxe and thine asse may rest, and the sonne of thy handmayd, & the stranger may be refreshed.

13And in all things that I haue said vnto you, be circumspect: and make no mention of the names of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

14 Three times thou shalt keepe a feast vnto me in the yeere.

15Thou shalt keepe the feast of vnleauened bread: thou shalt eate vnleauened bread seuen daies, as I commanded thee in the time appointed of the moneth Abib: for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appeare before me emptie:

16And the feast of haruest, the first fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sowen in the field: and the feast of ingathering which is in the end of the yeere, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17Three times in the yeere all thy males shall appeare before the Lord God.

18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leauened bread, neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remaine vntill the morning.

19The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milke.

20Behold, I send an Angel before thee to keepe thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I haue prepared.

21Beware of him, and obey his voice, prouoke him not: for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

22But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and doe all that I speake, then I wil be an enemie vnto thine enemies, and an aduersarie vnto thine aduersaries.

23For mine Angel shall goe before thee, and bring thee in vnto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites: and I will cut them off.

24Thou shalt not bow downe to their gods, nor serue them, nor doe after their workes: but thou shalt vtterly ouerthrowe them, and quite breake downe their images.

25And yee shall serue the Lord your God, and he shall blesse thy bread, and thy water: and I will take sicknes away from the midst of thee.

26 There shall nothing cast their yong, nor bee barren in thy land: the number of thy dayes I will fulfill.

27I will send my feare before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turne their backes vnto thee.

28And I will send hornets before thee, which shall driue out the Hiuite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee.

29I will not driue them out from before thee in one yeere, lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

30By little and little I will driue them out from before thee, vntill thou be increased and inherit the land.

31And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea, euen vnto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert vnto the riuer: for I will deliuer the inhabitants of the land into your hand: and thou shalt driue them out before thee.

32Thou shalt make no couenant with them, nor with their gods.

33They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sinne against me: for if thou serue their gods, it will surely be a snare vnto thee.

Compare Verses to Verses

I == Lev 19:16 ; Prov 10:18 ; Matt 26:59-61

 

II == Lev 19:15 ; Prov 4:14; Mark 15:15

 

 

 

 

IV == Deut 22:1 ; Job 31:29 ; Prov 24:17 ; 25:21 ; Matt 5:44 ; Rom 12:20 ; 1st thess 5:15

V == Deut 22:1

 

 

VI == Amos 5:12 ; Mal 3:5

 

VII == Matt 27:4 ; Luke 3:14 ; Rom 1:18 ; Eph 4:25

 

 

VIII == 1st Sam 8:3 ; Amos 5:12

 

IX == Matt 18:33

 

 

 

X == Lev 25:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XII == Ex 20:8-9 ; Deut 5:13 ; Luke 13:14

 

 

 

XIII == Deut 4:9 ; Josh 22:5 ; Ps 39:1 ; Hos 2:17 ; Eph 5:15 ; 1st Tim 4:16

 

 

XIV == Ex 34:23 ; Lev 23:4 ; Num 32:38 ; Deut 12:3 ; 16:16 ; Josh 23:7 ; ps 16:4 ; Zech 13:2

XV == Ex 12:15 ; 13:6 ; 34:18 . 20 ; Lev 23:6 ; Deut 16:8 , 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Ex 34:23 ; Deut 16:16

 

XVIII == Ex 12:8 ; 34:25 ; Lev 2:11 ; Deut 16:4

 

XIX == Lev 23:10 , 17 ; Neh 10:35

 

 

 

XX == Ex 14:19 ; 32:34 ; 33:2 , 14 ; Ps 91:11 ; Isa 63:9 ; Mt 11:10 ; Mk 1:2 ; Lk 7:27

XXI == John 10:30 , 38 ; Eph 4:60

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXV == Deut 7:13 , 15 ; 28:5 , 8

 

 

 

 

 

XXVII == Gen 35:5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXXIII == Ex 34:12 Deut 7:16 ; 12:30 ; Josh 23:13 ; Judg 2:3 ; 1st Sam 18:21 ; Ps 106:36

 

 

THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE

1 "You shall not repeat a false report. Do not join the wicked in putting your hand, as an unjust witness, upon anyone.

2 Neither shall you allege the example of the many as an excuse for doing wrong, nor shall you, when testifying in a lawsuit, side with the many in perverting justice.

3 You shall not favor a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 "When you come upon your enemy's ox or ass going astray, see to it that it is returned to him.

5 When you notice the ass of one who hates you lying prostrate under its burden, by no means desert him; help him, rather, to raise it up.

6 "You shall not deny one of your needy fellow men his rights in his lawsuit.

7 You shall keep away from anything dishonest. The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, nor shall you acquit the guilty.

8 Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds even the most clear-sighted and twists the words even of the just.

9 You shall not oppress an alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.

10 "For six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce.

11 But the seventh year you shall let the land lie untilled and unharvested, that the poor among you may eat of it and the beasts of the field may eat what the poor leave. So also shall you do in regard to your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 "For six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest, that your ox and your ass may also have rest, and that the son of your maidservant and the alien may be refreshed.

13 Give heed to all that I have told you. "Never mention the name of any other god; it shall not be heard from your lips.

14 "Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me.

15 You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, you must eat unleavened bread for seven days at the prescribed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me empty-handed.

16 You shall also keep the feast of the grain harvest with the first of the crop that you have sown in the field; and finally, the feast at the fruit harvest at the end of the year, when you gather in the produce from the fields.

17 Thrice a year shall all your men appear before the Lord GOD.

18 "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of my feast be kept overnight till the next day.

19 The choicest first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the LORD, your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

20 "See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.

21 Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority resides in him.

22 If you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23 "My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out.

24 Therefore, you shall not bow down in worship before their gods, nor shall you make anything like them; rather, you must demolish them and smash their sacred pillars.

25 The LORD, your God, you shall worship; then I will bless your food and drink, and I will remove all sickness from your midst;

26 no woman in your land will be barren or miscarry; and I will give you a full span of life.

27 "I will have the fear of me precede you, so that I will throw into panic every nation you reach. I will make all your enemies turn from you in flight,

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

29 But not in one year will I drive them all out before you; else the land will become so desolate that the wild beasts will multiply against you.

30 Instead, I will drive them out little by little before you, until you have grown numerous enough to take possession of the land.

31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River; all who dwell in this land I will hand over to you to be driven out of your way.

32 You shall not make a covenant with them or their gods.

33 They must not abide in your land, lest they make you sin against me by ensnaring you into worshiping their gods."

COMMENTARIE

This is a continuation of :
(5. Miscellaneous Laws Ex. 22:16 = 23:19.)
23:1-9 is a variety of humane issues and kindnesses that are self explanatory. Included is a warning not to take bribes or oppress foreigners.

 

V 2 illustrates how the Pharisees abused the Torah in the Talmud (If not stated otherwise it is the Babylonian Talmud) by taking words out of context. By saying not to decline after many, verses 1-3 clearly indicate that you are to give honest testimony regardless of what the majority may say. However, the rabbis isolated three words, “decline after many”. This gives them the authority to change and add to the Torah if the majority decides to do it. For instance, saying a specified prayer while pouring water from one hand to another before a meal. Jesus upheld the Torah, but rebuked their tradition of men in doing this, Mk. 5:5-7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

V 10-13 involve the sabbath year rest of the land and seventh day rest. These things should all be done circumspectly or prudently, and an additional warning to not even mention false gods.
Verses 14-19 deal with the three national feasts, three times in the year.
The feast of unleavened bread which lasts seven days and immediately follows the feast of the passover. This is about the beginning of barley harvest, and sheaves of new grain were offered.
The feast of harvest, at which two loaves made from the new grain, wheat, was offered at the completion of harvest. Also called Feast of Weeks, because it was seven weeks (50 days) after the feast of unleavened bread. In the New Testament it is called Pentecost (fifty days).
The feast of ingathering, or tabernacles, at the end all agricultural harvest. Booths were set up to sleep in, reminder of the days leaving Egypt.
There is additional instruction regarding sacrifices, and a separate instruction not to boil a kid in it’s mother’s milk. Boiling a kid in it’s mother’s milk was common among the Canaanites as a fertility rite, and the milk was sprinkled over their fields. God didn’t want his people involved in anything related to idolatry. The prohibition may also have involved not taking what was given to promote life, milk, to destroy the young life of the kid which should have been left with it’s mother.

 

 

 

 

V 20-33 are instructions and promises concerning conquest of the land:

 

v 20-23. This may have been a special guardian angel, but more likely the pre incarnate Christ. The oral instruction would come from Moses. 

 

 

 

 

 

v 24. They were not to worship the false gods but destroy them.

 

 

v 25-27. God enumerates blessings the people will receive if they serve the Lord. Their enemies were more powerful and could have overcome them at various times had not the Lord put fear in them.

 

 

 

 

v 28 A reminder of the little song that God didn’t force them out, He just sent hornets and made them willing to go.

 

v 29,30. Such a wise plan, driving out the enemies only as fast as the Israelites could satisfactorily inhabit the land without it growing up to weeds and wild animals.

 

 

 

v 31. Israel never achieved these boundaries except briefly in Solomon’s reign.
Red Sea = Gulf of Aquaba, the southeastern border.
Sea of the Philistines = the Mediterranean Sea.
The desert = the southern boundary.
The river = the River Euphrates.
v 32,33. Another reminder not to make a treaty with the enemies or their idolatry would be a snare to Israel. This proved so true.