1 ` Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.

“Do not tell a lie about someone else. Do not join with the sinful to say something that will hurt someone.

2 ` Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause to turn aside;

Do not follow many people in doing wrong. When telling what you know in a trial, do not agree with many people by saying what is not true.

3 a nd a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.

And do not show favor to a poor man when he has a problem.

4 ` When thou meetest thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou dost certainly turn it back to him;

“If you meet a bull or donkey that belongs to a man who hates you, be sure to return the animal to him.

5 w hen thou seest the ass of him who is hating thee crouching under its burden, then thou hast ceased from leaving to it -- thou dost certainly leave with him.

If you see the donkey of one who hates you falling under its load, do not leave the problem to him. Help him to free the animal.

6 ` Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;

Do not keep from doing what is right and fair in trying to help a poor brother when he has a problem.

7 f rom a false matter thou dost keep far off, and an innocent and righteous man thou dost not slay; for I do not justify a wicked man.

Do not lie against someone. And do not kill those who are right and good or those who are not guilty. For I will not free the guilty.

8 ` And a bribe thou dost not take; for the bribe bindeth the open-, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

Do not take pay in secret for wrong-doing. For such pay blinds the one who sees well and destroys the words of a good man.

9 ` And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye -- ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

Do not make it hard for a stranger because you know how a stranger feels. You were strangers in the land of Egypt. Seventh Year and Seventh Day

10 ` And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase;

“You will plant seeds in your land for six years, and gather the grain.

11 a nd the seventh thou dost release it, and hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard -- to thine olive-yard.

But in the seventh year you will let the land rest without planting. So your people who are in need may eat. Whatever they leave, the animals may eat. You are to do the same with your grape-fields and olive trees.

12 ` Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;

You will work six days and rest on the seventh day. So your bull and your donkey may rest. And the son of your female servant, and the stranger, may get their strength again.

13 a nd in all that which I have said unto you ye do take heed; and the name of other gods ye do not mention; it is not heard on thy mouth.

Be careful to do all I have said to you. Never speak the name of other gods. Do not let them be heard from your mouth. Three Great Suppers

14 ` Three times thou dost keep a feast to Me in a year;

“Three times a year you will have a special supper to honor Me.

15 t he Feast of Unleavened things thou dost keep; seven days thou dost eat unleavened things, as I have commanded thee, at the time appointed the month of Abib; for in it thou hast come forth out of Egypt, and ye do not appear My presence empty;

You will have the special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread without yeast at the time I tell you in the month of Abib. For you came out of Egypt during this month. And no one will come before Me with nothing in his hands.

16 a nd the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of thy works which thou sowest in the field; and the Feast of the In-Gathering, in the outgoing of the year, in thy gathering thy works out of the field.

You will have the special supper of the gathering time of the first-fruits of your work, of all you plant in the field. And you will have the special supper of gathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your work from the field.

17 ` Three times in a year do all thy males appear before the face of the Lord Jehovah.

Three times a year all your males will come before the Lord God.

18 ` Thou dost not sacrifice on a fermented thing the blood of My sacrifice, and the fat of My festival doth not remain till morning;

“Do not give the blood of My gift of worship with bread made with yeast. And the fat of My special supper is not to be kept all night until morning.

19 t he beginning of the first-fruits of thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

Bring the best first-fruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil the meat of a young goat in its mother’s milk. The Angel and the Promises

20 ` Lo, I am sending a messenger before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee in unto the place which I have prepared;

“See, I am sending an angel before you to keep you safe on the way. He will bring you to the place I have made ready.

21 b e watchful because of his presence, and hearken to his voice, rebel not against him, for he beareth not with your transgression, for My name in his heart;

Listen to him and obey his voice. Do not turn against him, for he will not forgive your sins, because My name is in him.

22 f or, if thou diligently hearken to his voice, and hast done all that which I speak, then I have been at enmity with thine enemies, and have distressed those distressing thee.

But if you obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will hate those who hate you and fight against those who fight against you.

23 ` For My messenger goeth before thee, and hath brought thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I have cut them off.

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

24 ` Thou dost not bow thyself to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their doings, but dost utterly devote them, and thoroughly break their standing pillars.

Do not worship their gods, or serve them, or act like them. But you are to destroy them and break their pillars of worship to pieces.

25 ` And ye have served Jehovah your God, and He hath blessed thy bread and thy water, and I have turned aside sickness from thine heart;

Serve the Lord your God and He will give you bread and water. And I will take sickness from among you.

26 t here is not a miscarrying and barren one in thy land; the number of thy days I fulfil:

Women in your land will not lose their babies before they are born, and will be able to give birth. I will give you a full life.

27 M y terror I send before thee, and I have put to death all the people among whom thou comest, and I have given the neck of all thine enemies unto thee.

I will send My fear before you. The people you meet will be afraid. And I will make all those who hate you run away from you.

28 ` And I have sent the hornet before thee, and it hath cast out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee;

I will send hornets before you. They will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites before you come.

29 I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee;

I will not move them out of your way in one year. So the land will not become a waste, and the animals of the field become too many for you.

30 l ittle little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.

I will drive them out a few at a time, until you become many and take the land for your own.

31 ` And I have set thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee;

I will give you the land from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. For I will give you power over the people of the land. And you will drive them away from you.

32 t hou dost not make a covenant with them, and with their gods;

Make no agreement with them or their gods.

33 t hey do not dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to sin against Me when thou servest their gods, when it becometh a snare to thee.'

They are not to live in your land, or they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, for sure it will be a trap to you.”