Reference: Covenant, Book Of The
Hastings
The oldest code of Hebrew law which has come down to us is contained in Ex 20:22 to Ex 23:33. It receives its name from the expression in Ex 24:7, while its character as a covenant is demonstrated by the promises attached to the keeping of it (Ex 23:20-33). Owing to the confused form in which the Book of Exodus has been transmitted, doubt has been expressed as to the limits of the Book of the Covenant. Some maintain that the words in Ex 24:7 refer only to ch. 23; others would make them include 21
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Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. read more. You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. [Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God). Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes]. Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you. You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.
And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the Israelites, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the Israelites, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
An altar of earth you shall make to Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name and cause it to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up a tool upon it you have polluted it. read more. Neither shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness be not exposed upon it.
Now these are the ordinances you [Moses] shall set before [the Israelites]. If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing. read more. If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out [of your service] alone. But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free, Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life. If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant or bondwoman, she shall not go out [in six years] as menservants do. If she does not please her master who has not espoused her to himself, he shall let her be redeemed. To sell her to a foreign people he shall have no power, for he has dealt faithlessly with her. And if he espouses her to his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he marries again, her food, clothing, and privilege as a wife shall he not diminish. And if he does not do these three things for her, then shall she go out free, without payment of money. Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God allowed him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee [for protection until duly tried]. read more. But if a man comes willfully upon another to slay him craftily, you shall take him from My altar [to which he may have fled for protection], that he may die. Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, shall surely be put to death. Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. If men quarrel and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but keeps his bed, read more. If he rises again and walks about leaning upon his staff, then he that struck him shall be clear, except he must pay for the loss of his time and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. And if a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod and he [or she] dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for he [has injured] his own property. If men contend with each other, and a pregnant woman [interfering] is hurt so that she has a miscarriage, yet no further damage follows, [the one who hurt her] shall surely be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman's husband, as much as the judges determine. But if any damage follows, then you shall give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burn for burn, wound for wound, and lash for lash. And if a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid so that it is destroyed, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.
And if a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid so that it is destroyed, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he knocks out his manservant's tooth or his maidservant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. read more. If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear.
If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear. But if the ox has tried to gore before, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it closed in and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also put to death. read more. If a ransom is put on [the man's] life, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid upon him. If the [man's ox] has gored another's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. If the ox gores a manservant or a maidservant, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. If a man leaves a pit open or digs a pit and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, The owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to the animal's owner, but the dead beast shall be his. If one man's ox hurts another's so that it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it; the dead ox also they shall divide between them. Or if it is known that the ox has gored in the past, and its owner has not kept it closed in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep. If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood shed for him. read more. But if the sun has risen [so he can be seen], blood must be shed for slaying him. The thief [if he lives] must make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the beast which he stole is found in his possession alive, whether it is ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double. If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution of the best of his own field or his own vineyard. If fire breaks out and catches so that the stacked grain or standing grain or the field be consumed, he who kindled the fire shall make full restitution. If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to keep and it is stolen out of the neighbor's house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. But if the thief is not found, the house owner shall appear before God [the judges as His agents] to find whether he stole his neighbor's goods. For every unlawful deed, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any lost thing at all, which another identifies as his, the cause of both parties shall come before God [the judges]. Whomever [they] shall condemn shall pay his neighbor double. If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,
If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it, Then an oath before the Lord shall be required between the two that the man has not taken his neighbor's property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make good the loss. read more. But if it is stolen when in his care, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn. And if a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it gets hurt or dies without its owner being with it, the borrower shall make full restitution. But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make it good. If it is a hired thing, the damage is included in its hire. If a man seduces a virgin not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to become his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equivalent to the dowry of virgins. You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery. Whoever lies carnally with a beast shall surely be put to death. He who sacrifices to any god but the Lord only shall be utterly destroyed. You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, neither shall you require interest from him. If you ever take your neighbor's garment in pledge, you shall give it back to him before the sun goes down; read more. For that is his only covering, his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? When he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious and merciful. You shall not revile God [the judges as His agents] or esteem lightly or curse a ruler of your people. You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them].
You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice and olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them]. Likewise shall you do with your oxen and your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me. read more. And you shall be holy men [consecrated] to Me; therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
You shall not repeat or raise a false report; you shall not join with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness at a trial so as to side with a multitude to pervert justice. read more. Neither shall you be partial to a poor man in his trial [just because he is poor].
You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his cause. Keep far from a false matter and [be very careful] not to condemn to death the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify and acquit the wicked. read more. You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
Six years you shall sow your land and reap its yield. But the seventh year you shall release it and let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat [what the land voluntarily yields], and what they leave the wild beasts shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and olive grove. read more. Six days you shall do your work, but the seventh day you shall rest and keep Sabbath, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your bondwoman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. read more. Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.
Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. read more. You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread [but keep it unmixed], neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until morning. The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep and guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Give heed to Him, listen to and obey His voice; be not rebellious before Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression; for My Name is in Him.
Give heed to Him, listen to and obey His voice; be not rebellious before Him or provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression; for My Name is in Him. But if you will indeed listen to and obey His voice and all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
But if you will indeed listen to and obey His voice and all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When My Angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them and blot them out,
When My Angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them and blot them out,
When My Angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them and blot them out, You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars and images.
You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars and images. You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst.
You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst. None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send My terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your foes turn from you [in flight].
I will send My terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your foes turn from you [in flight]. And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you.
And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you.
And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you.
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you.
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and are numerous enough to take possession of the land.
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and are numerous enough to take possession of the land.
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and are numerous enough to take possession of the land. I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you shall drive them out before you.
I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you shall drive them out before you.
I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.