Exodus 23 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Various Laws

“You shall not give a false report; you shall not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness [promoting wrong and violence].

Exo 23:2

Exo 23:2“You shall not follow a crowd to do [something] evil, nor shall you testify at a trial or in a dispute so as to side with a crowd in order to pervert justice;

Exo 23:3

Exo 23:3nor shall you favor or be partial to a poor man in his dispute [simply because he is poor].

Exo 23:4

“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering off, you must bring it back to him.

Exo 23:5

Exo 23:5“If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave the man to deal with it [alone]; you must help him release the animal [from its burden].

Exo 23:6

“You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute.

Exo 23:7

Exo 23:7“Keep far away from a false charge or action, and do not condemn to death the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the guilty.

Exo 23:8

“You shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.

Exo 23:9

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the soul [the feelings, thoughts, and concerns] of a stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

Exo 23:10

“You shall sow your land six years and harvest its yield,

Exo 23:11

Exo 23:11but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

Exo 23:12

“Six days [each week] you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall stop [working] so that your ox and your donkey may settle down and rest, and the son of your female servant, as well as your stranger, may be refreshed.

Exo 23:13

Exo 23:13“Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; do not mention the name of other gods [either in a blessing or in a curse]; do not let such speech be heard [coming] from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

(Exo 34:18–26; Deu 16:1–17 )

Exo 23:14

“Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast [dedicated] to Me.

Exo 23:15

Exo 23:15“You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed [but you shall bring sacrificial offerings].

Exo 23:16

Exo 23:16“Also [you shall observe] the Feast of Harvest (Weeks, Pentecost, or First Fruits), acknowledging the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. And [third] the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of the year when you gather in [the fruit of] your labors from the field.

Exo 23:17

Exo 23:17“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the [fn]Lord GOD.

Exo 23:18

“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with [fn]leavened bread; and the fat of My feast is not to be left overnight until morning.

Exo 23:19

“You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God.

“You shall not [fn]boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Conquest of the Land

Exo 23:20

“Behold, I am going to send an [fn]Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

Exo 23:21

Exo 23:21“Be on your guard before Him, listen to and obey His voice; do not be rebellious toward Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name (authority) is in Him.

Exo 23:22

Exo 23:22“But if you will indeed listen to and truly obey His voice and do everything that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

Exo 23:23

Exo 23:23“When My Angel goes before you and brings you to [the land of] the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, I will reject them and completely destroy them.

Exo 23:24

Exo 23:24“You shall not bow down to worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do [anything] in accordance with their practices. You shall completely overthrow them and break down their [sacred] pillars and images [of pagan worship].

Exo 23:25

Exo 23:25“You shall serve [only] the LORD your God, and He shall bless your bread and water. I will also remove sickness from among you.

Exo 23:26

Exo 23:26“No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; [fn]I will fulfill the number of your days.

Exo 23:27

Exo 23:27“I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight].

Exo 23:28

Exo 23:28“I will send hornets ahead of you which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

Exo 23:29

Exo 23:29“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.

Exo 23:30

Exo 23:30“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and are strong enough to take possession of the land.

Exo 23:31

Exo 23:31“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will hand over the residents of the land to you, and you shall drive them out before you.

Exo 23:32

Exo 23:32“You shall not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

Exo 23:33

Exo 23:33“They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it is certain to be a trap for you [resulting in judgment].”

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AMP Footnotes

(23:17)

“Lord” with only an initial capital is Heb Adonai (Master); “GOD” (all caps) represents YHWH (Yahweh) and is usually rendered “LORD” (all caps).

(23:18)

Because leaven is a kind of fungus, it became a symbol of corruption and sin. But in some contexts it had positive connotations (e.g. Lev 23:17; Matt 13:33).

(23:19)

This may have been a pagan practice, perhaps a fertility rite.

(23:20)

“Angel” has been capitalized here to reflect the likelihood that it is God appearing in a visible form (see note Gen 16:7).

(23:26)

I.e. grant you long life.

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