|
EXODUS: CHAPTER
22-24
EXODUS: CHAPTER
22
Property
Rights
1 "If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters
it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for
the sheep.
2 "If the thief is caught while breaking
in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on
his account.
3 "But if the sun has risen on him, there
will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution;
if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
4 "If what he stole is actually found alive in
his possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.
5 "If a man lets a field or vineyard be
grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another
man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field
and the best of his own vineyard.
6 "If a fire breaks out and spreads to
thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field
itself is consumed, he who started the fire shall surely make
restitution.
7 "If a man gives his neighbor money or
goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man's house,
if the thief is caught, he shall pay double.
8 "If the thief is not caught, then the owner
of the house shall appear before the judges, to determine whether
he laid his hands on his neighbor's property.
9 "For every breach of trust, whether it is
for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost
thing about which one says, 'This is it,' the case of both parties shall
come before the judges; he whom the judges condemn shall pay double
to his neighbor.
10 "If a man gives his neighbor a donkey,
an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or
is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking,
11 an oath before the LORD
shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbor's
property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make
restitution.
12 "But if it is actually stolen from him, he
shall make restitution to its owner.
13 "If it is all torn to pieces, let him bring
it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn
to pieces.
14 "If a man borrows anything from
his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with
it, he shall make full restitution.
15 "If its owner is with it, he shall not make
restitution; if it is hired, it came for its hire.
Sundry Laws
16 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not
engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be
his wife.
17 "If her father absolutely refuses to give
her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.
18 "You shall not allow a sorceress to
live.
19 "Whoever lies with an animal shall
surely be put to death.
20 "He who sacrifices to any god, other
than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
21 "You shall not wrong a stranger or
oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 "You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.
23 "If you afflict him at all, and if
he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry;
24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill
you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children
fatherless.
25 "If you lend money to My people, to
the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall
not charge him interest.
26 "If you ever take your neighbor's cloak as
a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets,
27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak
for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that
when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.
28 "You shall not curse God, nor curse
a ruler of your people.
29 "You shall not delay the offering
from your harvest and your vintage. The firstborn of your sons you
shall give to Me.
30 "You shall do the same with your oxen and
with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth
day you shall give it to Me.
31 "You shall be holy men to Me, therefore
you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you
shall throw it to the dogs.
EXODUS: CHAPTER
23
Sundry Laws
1 "You shall not bear a false report; do not
join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
2 "You shall not follow the masses in doing evil,
nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude
in order to pervert justice;
3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his
dispute.
4 "If you meet your enemy's ox or his
donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.
5 "If 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 "You shall not pervert the justice due
to your needy brother in his dispute.
7 "Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill
the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 "You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe
blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.
9 "You shall not oppress a stranger, since
you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also
were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The Sabbath
and Land
10 "You shall sow your land for six years
and gather in its yield,
11 but on the seventh year you shall let
it rest 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 "Six 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 your stranger, may refresh themselves.
13 "Now concerning everything which I have said
to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods,
nor let them be heard from your mouth.
Three National
Feasts
14 "Three times a year you shall celebrate
a feast to Me.
15 "You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened
Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded
you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out
of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
16 "Also you shall observe the Feast of
the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what
you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of
the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the
field.
17 "Three times a year all your males shall appear
before the Lord GOD.
18 "You shall not offer the blood of My
sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain
overnight until morning.
19 "You shall bring the choice first fruits
of your soil into the house of the LORD your
God.
¦ "You are not to boil a young goat in
the milk of its mother.
Conquest
of the Land
20 "Behold, I am going to send an angel
before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place
which I have prepared.
21 "Be on your guard before him and obey his
voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your
transgression, since My name is in him.
22 "But if you truly obey his voice and do all
that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary
to your adversaries.
23 "For My angel will go before you and bring
you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely
destroy them.
24 "You shall not worship their gods, nor serve
them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow
them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.
25 "But you shall serve the LORD
your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove
sickness from your midst.
26 "There shall be no one miscarrying or barren
in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 "I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw
into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all
your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 "I will send hornets ahead of you so that
they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before
you.
29 "I will not drive them out before you in a
single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of
the field become too numerous for you.
30 "I will drive them out before you little by
little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
31 "I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea
to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River
Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into
your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
32 "You shall make no covenant with them or with
their gods.
33 "They shall not live in your land, because
they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods,
it will surely be a snare to you."
EXODUS: CHAPTER
24
People Affirm
Their Covenant with God
1 Then He said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD,
you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel,
and you shall worship at a distance.
2 "Moses alone, however, shall come near to the
LORD, but they shall not come near, nor shall
the people come up with him."
3 Then Moses came and recounted to the
people all the words of the LORD and all the
ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, "All
the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!"
4 Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD.
Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of
the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and
they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings
to the LORD.
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it
in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the
altar.
7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read
it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the
LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!"
8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it
on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the
LORD has made with you in accordance with all
these words."
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under
His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the
sky itself.
11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against
the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and
drank.
12 Now the LORD
said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and
I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which
I have written for their instruction."
13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and
Moses went up to the mountain of God.
14 But to the elders he said, "Wait here for
us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever
has a legal matter, let him approach them."
15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the
cloud covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the LORD
rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on
the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.
17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the
appearance of the glory of the LORD was like
a consuming fire on the mountain top.
18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he
went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and
forty nights. |
