Old/New Testament
Justice
23 [a] “You must not give[b] a false report.[c] Do not make common cause[d] with the wicked[e] to be a malicious[f] witness.
2 “You must not follow a crowd[g] in doing evil things;[h] in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice,[i] 3 and you must not show partiality[j] to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 “If you encounter[k] your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return[l] it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him,[m] but be sure to help[n] him with it.[o]
6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance[p] from a false charge[q]—do not kill the innocent and the righteous,[r] for I will not justify the wicked.[s]
8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see[t] and subverts the words of the righteous.
9 “You must not oppress[u] a resident foreigner, since you know the life[v] of a foreigner, for you were foreigners[w] in the land of Egypt.
Sabbaths and Feasts
10 [x] “For six years[y] you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. 11 But in the seventh year[z] you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field[aa] may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and the resident foreigner[ab] may refresh themselves.[ac]
13 “Pay attention to do[ad] everything I have told you, and do not even mention[ae] the names of other gods—do not let them be heard on your lips.[af]
14 “Three times[ag] in the year you must make a pilgrim feast[ah] to me. 15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days[ai] you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time[aj] you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before[ak] me empty-handed.
16 “You are also to observe[al] the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year[am] when you have gathered in[an] your harvest[ao] out of the field. 17 At[ap] three times in the year all your males will appear before the Sovereign Lord.[aq]
18 “You must not offer[ar] the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning.[as] 19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.[at]
The Angel of the Presence
20 [au] “I am going to send[av] an angel[aw] before you to protect you as you journey[ax] and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.[ay] 21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my Name[az] is in him. 22 But if you diligently obey him[ba] and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.[bb]
24 “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones[bc] to pieces.[bd] 25 You must serve[be] the Lord your God, and he[bf] will bless your bread and your water,[bg] and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 No woman will miscarry her young[bh] or be barren in your land. I will fulfill[bi] the number of your days.
27 “I will send my terror[bj] before you, and I will alarm[bk] all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs[bl] to you. 28 I will send[bm] hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals[bn] multiply against you. 30 Little by little[bo] I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land. 31 I will set[bp] your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River,[bq] for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare[br] to you.”
The Lord Ratifies the Covenant
24 [bs] But to Moses the Lord[bt] said, “Come up[bu] to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance.[bv] 2 Moses alone may come near[bw] the Lord, but the others[bx] must not come near,[by] nor may the people go up with him.”
3 Moses came[bz] and told the people all the Lord’s words[ca] and all the decisions. All the people answered together,[cb] “We are willing to do[cc] all the words that the Lord has said,” 4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built[cd] an altar at the foot[ce] of the mountain and arranged[cf] twelve standing stones[cg]—according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young Israelite men,[ch] and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings[ci] to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar.[cj] 7 He took the Book of the Covenant[ck] and read it aloud[cl] to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey[cm] all that the Lord has spoken.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on[cn] the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant[co] that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up,[cp] 10 and they saw[cq] the God of Israel. Under his feet[cr] there was something like a pavement[cs] made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself.[ct] 11 But he did not lay a hand[cu] on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God,[cv] and they ate and they drank.[cw]
12 [cx] The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets[cy] with[cz] the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.”[da] 13 So Moses set out[db] with[dc] Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are[dd] Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute[de] can approach[df] them.”
15 Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord resided[dg] on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days.[dh] On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view[di] of the people. 18 Moses went into the cloud when he went up[dj] the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.[dk]
Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner[a] who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage,[b] he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When it was about nine o’clock in the morning,[c] he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace[d] without work. 4 He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. When[e] he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon,[f] he did the same thing. 6 And about five o’clock that afternoon[g] he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’ 8 When[h] it was evening[i] the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages[j] starting with the last hired until the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay.[k] 10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 11 When[l] they received it, they began to complain[m] against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ 13 And the landowner[n] replied to one of them,[o] ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage?[p] 14 Take what is yours and go. I[q] want to give to this last man[r] the same as I gave to you. 15 Am I not[s] permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[t] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
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