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Exodus 23-24
Easy-to-Read Version
Exodus 23-24
Easy-to-Read Version
23 “Don’t tell lies against other people. If you are a witness in court, don’t agree to help a bad person tell lies.
2 “Don’t do something just because everyone else is doing it. If you see a group of people doing wrong, don’t join them. You must not let them persuade you to do wrong things—you must do what is right and fair.
3 “In court, don’t treat a person in a special way simply because that person is poor.
4 “If you see a lost bull or donkey, then you must return it to its owner—even if the owner is your enemy.
5 “If you see an animal that cannot walk because it has too much to carry, you must stop and help that animal. You must help that animal even if it belongs to one of your enemies.
6 “In court, don’t let anyone take advantage of a person simply because that person is poor.
7 “Be very careful if you say that someone is guilty of something. Don’t make false charges against a person. Never allow innocent people to be killed as punishment for something they did not do. Whoever kills an innocent person is evil, and I will not treat a guilty person as innocent.
8 “If someone tries to pay you to agree with them when they are wrong, don’t accept that payment. A payment like that can blind judges so that they cannot see the truth. It can make good people tell lies.
9 “You must never do wrong things to a foreigner. Remember, you know what it is like to be a foreigner because at one time you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
The Special Festivals
10 “Plant seeds, harvest your crops, and work the ground for six years. 11 But the seventh year must be a special time of rest for the land. Don’t plant anything in your fields. If any crops grow there, allow the poor to have it. And allow the wild animals to eat the food that is left. You should do the same with your vineyards and with your fields of olive trees.
12 “Work for six days, but on the seventh day, rest! This will allow your slaves and other workers a time to rest and relax. And your bulls and donkeys will also have a time of rest.
13 “Be sure that you obey all these laws. Don’t worship false gods. You should not even speak their names!
14 “You will have three special festivals each year. You must come to my special place to worship me during these festivals. 15 The first festival is the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is as I commanded you. During this time you will eat bread that is made without yeast. This will continue for seven days. You will do this during the month of Abib, because this is the time when you came out of Egypt. Everyone must bring a sacrifice to me at that time.
16 “The second festival will be the Festival of Harvest. This festival will be during the early summer when you begin harvesting the first crops that you planted in your fields.
“The third festival will be the Festival of Shelters. This will be in the fall, when you finish gathering the rest of the crops from your fields.
17 “So three times each year all the men will come to the special place to be with the Lord God.
18 “When you kill an animal and offer its blood as a sacrifice, you must not include anything that has yeast in it. And when you burn the fat from my sacrifice, don’t let any of it remain until morning.
19 “When you gather your crops at harvest time, you should bring the first of everything you harvest to the house[a] of the Lord your God.
“You must not eat the meat from a young goat that is boiled in its mother’s milk.”
God Will Help Israel Take Their Land
20 “I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to lead you to the place that I have prepared for you. 21 Obey the angel and follow him. Be careful in his presence, and don’t rebel against him. The angel will not forgive the wrong things you do to him. He has my power[b] in him. 22 If you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to all of your enemies. I will be against everyone who is against you.
23 “My angel will lead you through the land. He will lead you against many different people—the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But I will defeat all of them.
24 “Don’t worship their gods. Don’t ever bow down to those gods. You must never live the way those people live. You must destroy their idols. And you must break the stones that help them remember their gods.[c] 25 You must serve the Lord your God. If you do this, I will bless you with plenty of bread and water. I will take away all sickness from you. 26 Your women will all be able to have babies. None of their babies will die at birth. And I will allow you to live long lives.
27 “When you fight against your enemies, I will send my great power before you.[d] I will help you defeat all your enemies. The people who are against you will become confused in battle and run away. 28 I will send the hornet[e] in front of you. He will force your enemies to leave. The Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites will leave your country. 29 But I will not force all of them out of your land quickly. I will not do this in only one year. The land will be empty if I force the people out too fast. Then all the wild animals would increase and control the land. And they would be much trouble for you. 30 So I will force them out of your land very slowly. I will do this as you grow and eventually take the land to be your own.
31 “I will give you all the land from the Red Sea[f] to the Mediterranean Sea,[g] and from the desert of Sinai to the Euphrates River. I will let you defeat the people living there and force them all to leave.
32 “You must not make any agreements with any of those people or their gods. 33 Don’t let them stay in your country. If you let them stay, they will be like a trap to you—they will cause you to sin against me. And you will begin worshiping their gods.”
God and Israel Make Their Agreement
24 The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel must come up the mountain and worship me from a distance. 2 Then only Moses will come close to the Lord. The other men must not come close, and the rest of the people must not even come up the mountain.”
3 Moses told the people all the rules and commands from the Lord. Then all the people said, “We will obey all the commands that the Lord has spoken.”
4 So Moses wrote down all the commands of the Lord. The next morning he got up and built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. And he set up twelve stones—one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then Moses sent young men of Israel to offer sacrifices. These men offered bulls to the Lord as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
6 Moses saved the blood from these animals. He put half of the blood in bowls, and he poured the other half of the blood on the altar.[h]
7 Moses read the scroll with the special agreement written on it. He read the agreement so that all the people could hear him. And the people said, “We have heard the laws that the Lord has given us. And we agree to obey them.”
8 Then Moses held the bowls full of the blood from the sacrifices. He threw that blood on the people. He said, “This blood shows that the Lord has made a special agreement with you. The laws God gave you explain the agreement.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel went up the mountain. 10 On the mountain, these men saw the God of Israel. He was standing on something that looked like blue sapphires, as clear as the sky! 11 All the leaders of Israel saw God, but God did not destroy them.[i] They all ate and drank together.
Moses Goes to Get God’s Law
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come to me on the mountain. I have written my teachings and laws on two stone tablets. These teachings and laws are for the people. I will give these stone tablets to you.”
13 So Moses and his helper, Joshua, went up the mountain of God. 14 Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. While I am gone, Aaron and Hur will rule over you. Go to them if anyone has a problem.”
Moses Meets With God
15 Then Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The Glory of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, the Lord spoke to Moses from the cloud. 17 The Israelites could see the Glory of the Lord. It was like a fire burning on top of the mountain.
18 Then Moses went higher up the mountain into the cloud. He was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:19 house The “Holy Tent” where the people went to meet with God. See Ex. 25:8, 9.
- Exodus 23:21 my power Literally, “my name.”
- Exodus 23:24 stones … gods Or “memorials.” Here, these were stone markers that people used in worshiping their gods.
- Exodus 23:27 When you fight … you Or “News of my power will go before you, and your enemies will be frightened.”
- Exodus 23:28 hornet A stinging insect like a large wasp or bee. Here, it might mean “God’s angel” or “his great power.”
- Exodus 23:31 Red Sea Or “Reed Sea,” probably the part known as the Gulf of Aqaba. See 1 Kings 9:26.
- Exodus 23:31 Mediterranean Sea Literally, “Philistine Sea.”
- Exodus 24:6 The blood was used to seal the agreement between God and the people. It was poured on the altar to show that God shared in the agreement.
- Exodus 24:11 saw God … destroy them In other places, the Bible says that people cannot see God. But God wanted these leaders to know what he was like, so he allowed them to see him in some special way.
Exodus 23-24
New International Version
Exodus 23-24
New International Version
Laws of Justice and Mercy
23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) 3 and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 5 If you see the donkey(H) 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 justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)
8 “Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) 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.(P) 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,(Q) 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.(R)
13 “Be careful(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.(U)
The Three Annual Festivals
14 “Three times(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(Y)
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest(Z) with the firstfruits(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.(AC)
17 “Three times(AD) 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.(AE)
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.(AF)
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(AH)
God’s Angel to Prepare the Way
20 “See, I am sending an angel(AI) ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.(AJ) 21 Pay attention to him and listen(AK) to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive(AL) your rebellion,(AM) since my Name(AN) is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do(AO) all that I say, I will be an enemy(AP) 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,(AQ) and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship(AR) them or follow their practices.(AS) You must demolish(AT) them and break their sacred stones(AU) to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,(AV) and his blessing(AW) will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness(AX) from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren(AY) in your land. I will give you a full life span.(AZ)
27 “I will send my terror(BA) ahead of you and throw into confusion(BB) every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.(BC) 28 I will send the hornet(BD) ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites(BE) 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 animals(BF) too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession(BG) of the land.
31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River.(BH) I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out(BI) before you. 32 Do not make a covenant(BJ) 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 snare(BK) to you.”
The Covenant Confirmed
24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron,(BL) Nadab and Abihu,(BM) and seventy of the elders(BN) of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach(BO) 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,(BP) they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”(BQ) 4 Moses then wrote(BR) down everything the Lord had said.
He got up early the next morning and built an altar(BS) at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars(BT) representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings(BU) and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings(BV) to the Lord. 6 Moses(BW) took half of the blood(BX) and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed(BY) against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant(BZ) and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”(CA)
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people(CB) and said, “This is the blood of the covenant(CC) that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders(CD) of Israel went up 10 and saw(CE) the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli,(CF) as bright blue as the sky.(CG) 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw(CH) God, and they ate and drank.(CI)
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone(CJ) with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua(CK) his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain(CL) of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur(CM) are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute(CN) can go to them.”
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud(CO) covered it, 16 and the glory(CP) of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.(CQ) For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.(CR) 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire(CS) on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty(CT) days and forty nights.(CU)
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
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