Exodus 22–24

1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

2If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.

3But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.

4If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.

5If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.

6If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.

7If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.

8If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor’s property.

9In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.

10If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,

11an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution.

12But if the animal was actually stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner.

13If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.

14If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.

15If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss.

16If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife.

17If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.

18You must not allow a sorceress to live.

19Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.

20If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction.

21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.

23If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.

24My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

25If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,

27because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

28You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

29You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

30You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me.

31You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

3And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

5If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

6You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

11but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

12For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

13Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

14Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

15You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

16You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

18You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

22But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

25So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.

26No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

27I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run.

28I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

29I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you.

30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

2Moses alone shall approach the LORD, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

3When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”

4And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

6Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar.

7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

8So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

11But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.

14And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them.”

15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

16and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

17And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

18Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.