Exodus

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

1Do not spread a false story about someone. Do not help wicked people by lying about what you saw.

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

2Do not join a crowd that is doing wrong. When you speak in court, do not twist the truth to match the crowd.

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

3Do not take a poor man's side in court just because he is poor. Be fair to everyone.

NoteThe KJV says "countenance a poor man." In 1611, that meant to favor him, not to look at him. The verse is about judges staying fair.

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

4Suppose you meet your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off. You must bring the animal back to him.

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.

5Suppose you see a donkey lying down under a heavy load. It belongs to someone who hates you. Do not walk away and leave it. Stop and help the man lift it.

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

6Do not be unfair to poor people when they come to court.

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

7Stay far away from false charges against people. Do not kill someone who has done nothing wrong. God says, "I will not call a guilty person innocent."

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

8Do not take a bribe. A bribe is money paid to make a judge unfair. It blinds wise people. It twists the words of good people.

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

9Do not treat a foreigner badly. You know how a foreigner feels. You were foreigners yourselves in Egypt.

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

10For six years, plant seeds in your land. Gather in the food that grows.

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.

11But in the seventh year, let the land rest. Do not plant it. Then the poor among your people can eat what grows there. Wild animals can eat what is left over. Do the same with your grapevines and your olive trees.

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.

12Do your work for six days. On the seventh day, stop and rest. Then your ox and your donkey can rest too. Your servant's son and the foreigners with you can rest as well.

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.

13Pay careful attention to everything I have told you. Do not call on the names of other gods. Do not even let their names come out of your mouth.

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

14Three times each year, you must hold a feast to honor me.

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:)

15Keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Eat flat bread made without yeast for seven days, just as I told you. Do this in the month of Abib. That is the month you came out of Egypt. No one may come to me with empty hands.

Note"Unleavened" bread is flat bread made without yeast, so it does not rise. Abib was the spring month when Israel left Egypt.

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.

16Also keep the Feast of Harvest. Bring the very first crops you grew in your field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year. That is when you gather your crops in from the field.

17Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

17Three times each year, all your men must come and stand 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.

18When you give me an animal as a gift, do not offer its blood with bread made with yeast. Do not keep the fat from my feast until the next 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.

19Bring the best of your first crops to the house of the LORD your God. Do not cook a baby goat in its 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.

20Listen. I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will keep you safe on the road. He will bring you to the place I have made ready.

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

21Pay attention to him and do what he says. Do not turn against him. He will not forgive you if you do. My own 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.

22But if you truly listen to him and do all I say, then I will fight anyone who fights you.

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.

23My angel will go ahead of you. He will bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. I will wipe those people out.

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.

24Do not bow down to their gods. Do not serve them. Do not copy the things they do. Instead, tear their gods down. Smash their stone idols to pieces.

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.

25Serve the LORD your God. He will bless your bread and your water. I will take sickness away from you.

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

26No woman in your land will lose her baby before it is born. No woman will be unable to have children. I will let you live all your days.

NoteThe KJV says "cast their young." That means losing a baby before it is born.

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.

27I will send fear ahead of you. Every nation you come to will be thrown into confusion. I will make all your enemies turn and run away.

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

28I will send hornets ahead of you. Hornets are stinging insects. They will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites.

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.

29I will not drive them all out in one year. If I did, the land would sit empty. Wild animals would grow too many for you.

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

30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you. I will keep going until your people grow many. Then the land will be yours.

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.

31I will set the borders of your land. They will run from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines. They will run from the desert to the great river. I will hand over the people living there to you. You will drive them out.

Note"The river" here means the Euphrates, a large river far to the northeast.

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

32Do not make any agreement with those people. Do not make any agreement 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.

33They must not stay in your land. If they do, they will lead you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught like an animal in a trap.