📖 Exodus — Chapter 23 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Exodus 23:1 Thou Rshalt not Traise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not Rfollow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou Tspeak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Exodus 23:3 RNeither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
Exodus 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy’s Rox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Exodus 23:5 RIf thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, Tand wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Exodus 23:6 RThou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Exodus 23:7 Keep thee Rfar from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Exodus 23:8 And Rthou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth Tthe wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Exodus 23:9 Also Rthou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the Theart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
Exodus 23:11 But Rthe seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy Toliveyard.
Exodus 23:12 RSix days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you Rbe circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Exodus 23:14 RThree times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exodus 23:15 Thou shalt keep Rthe feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exodus 23:16 And the Rfeast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exodus 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.
Exodus 23:18 Thou shalt not offer the Rblood of my Tsacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
Exodus 23:19 The Rfirst of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an RAngel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exodus 23:21 RBeware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
Exodus 23:22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be Ran enemy unto thine enemies, and Tan adversary unto thine adversaries.
Exodus 23:23 For Rmine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
Exodus 23:24 Thou Rshalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Exodus 23:25 RAnd ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Exodus 23:26 There Rshall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exodus 23:27 I will send Rmy fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their Tbacks unto thee.
Exodus 23:28 And I will send Rhornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exodus 23:29 I will not drive them out from before thee Rin one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exodus 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exodus 23:31 And RI will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
Exodus 23:32 Thou Rshalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exodus 23:33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest Rthey make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Exodus 23:1–9 — Justice without Partiality
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The LORD forbids false reports, unjust witness, and following a multitude into evil. Israel must return an enemy's wandering animal and help with an overburdened ass. Gifts that corrupt judgment are forbidden, and strangers are not to be oppressed.
Key Truth: Justice is not to be distorted by crowds, hostility, or gifts.
Check What You Remember
1. Was Israel to follow a multitude to do evil? (Exodus 23:2)
Find it in Exodus 23:2 (KJV).
2. What should be done with an enemy's wandering ox? (Exodus 23:4)
Find it in Exodus 23:4 (KJV).
3. Why are corrupting gifts forbidden? (Exodus 23:8)
Find it in Exodus 23:8 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Exodus 23:10–19 — Rest, Feasts, and Firstfruits
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The land is to rest in the seventh year so the poor and the animals may eat. Weekly rest refreshes servants, strangers, and livestock. Israel is to observe the feasts of unleavened bread, harvest, and ingathering and bring firstfruits to the LORD.
Key Truth: The covenant calendar includes rest, provision for others, and worship.
Check What You Remember
1. In which year was the land to rest? (Exodus 23:11)
Find it in Exodus 23:11 (KJV).
2. How many times each year were feasts to be kept? (Exodus 23:14)
Find it in Exodus 23:14 (KJV).
3. Where were the firstfruits to be brought? (Exodus 23:19)
Find it in Exodus 23:19 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Exodus 23:20–33 — Guidance and Warnings for the Land
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The LORD promises to send an Angel before Israel and commands obedience. He warns them against serving the nations' gods and making covenants with them. The nations will be driven out little by little rather than in one year, so the land does not become desolate.
Key Truth: God's promised guidance comes with a call to obedient, exclusive worship.
Check What You Remember
1. Whom would God send before Israel? (Exodus 23:20)
Find it in Exodus 23:20 (KJV).
2. Would the nations be driven out in one year? (Exodus 23:29)
Find it in Exodus 23:29 (KJV).
3. How would they be driven out? (Exodus 23:30)
Find it in Exodus 23:30 (KJV).
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How do the commands about an enemy’s animals extend duty beyond friendly relationships?
2. How do the land’s rest and the weekly rest benefit others?
3. What two effects make a corrupting gift dangerous to judgment?
4. Why are the inhabitants driven out gradually rather than in one year?
5. How does the final warning explain the prohibition on covenants with their gods?
Notes
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