Bible Glide

Exodus 23

Exodus 23 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Exodus 23 continues the covenant laws with calls to honest justice, mercy toward others, and faithful worship. It also sets patterns for rest and annual feasts, then points ahead to God's guidance as he leads Israel into the land he prepared.

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What happens in Exodus 23?

This chapter gathers instructions for life under God's covenant. It forbids false reports, mob justice, bribery, and mistreatment of the poor or foreigners. It also calls Israel to help even an enemy in need. The Sabbath pattern extends to land and labor, giving rest to people, animals, and the earth. The chapter then names three yearly feasts tied to deliverance, harvest, and ingathering. It closes with God's promise to send his angel ahead, protect his people, drive out their enemies, and keep them from idolatry as they enter the land.

Exodus 23 belongs to the broader covenant section that follows the Ten Commandments and the case laws in Exodus 20 to 22. It applies God's holy standards to public justice, daily work, worship, and Israel's future in the promised land. The chapter also prepares for the covenant renewal that follows in the next chapter.

Themes to notice

  • Justice and mercyGod calls his people to truthful speech, fair judgment, and practical kindness even toward an enemy.
  • Rest and worshipSabbath rhythms and pilgrimage feasts shape Israel's time around dependence on God and gratitude for his gifts.
  • Guidance and holinessGod promises to lead, protect, and bless his people as they reject idols and stay loyal to him.

Questions for Exodus 23

  • What stands out to you about how this chapter connects justice with everyday kindness?
  • Why do the Sabbath rest and the annual feasts matter for Israel's identity and trust in God?
  • What do God's promises about leading Israel teach about obedience, protection, and holiness?

Read the full text of Exodus 23 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Exodus 23

Justice and Mercy

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.

Sabbath Laws

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.

The Three Feasts of Pilgrimage

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.

God’s Angel to Lead

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.”

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