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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 23
The Lord reveals his laws pertaining to integrity and godly
conduct—
Land shall rest during a sabbatical year—Israel shall
keep three annual feast—An angel, bearing the Lord's name, shall guide
them—Sickness shall be removed—Nations of Canaan shall be driven
out gradually.
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Law Concerning Lies and False Witness
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1 THOU shalt not raise a
afalse report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an
unrighteous witness.
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3a
Lev. 1:1;
Moses 1:17
b
Ex. 3:12;
Moses 1:1-3
4a
Deut. 327:11;
D&C 124:18 (18,99)
5a
TG
Obedience
b
TG
Abrahamic Covenant
TG
Covenants
c
TG
Israel, Twelve Tribes
TG
Peculiar People
d
TG
Israel, Blessing of
TG
Treasure
6a
TG
Election
b
TG
Israel, Mission of;
TG;
Priesthood;
TG
Priesthood, History of
c
Ex. 22:31;
1 Pet. 2:9 (5-9);
TG
Holiness
d
TG
Separation
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Law Precluding Rule of Majority
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2 ¶ aThou shalt not
bfollow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou
speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest
cjudgment:
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3a
Lev. 1:1;
Moses 1:17
b
Ex. 3:12;
Moses 1:1-3
4a
Deut. 327:11;
D&C 124:18 (18,99)
5a
TG
Obedience
b
TG
Abrahamic Covenant
TG
Covenants
c
TG
Israel, Twelve Tribes
TG
Peculiar People
d
TG
Israel, Blessing of
TG
Treasure
6a
TG
Election
b
TG
Israel, Mission of;
TG;
Priesthood;
TG
Priesthood, History of
c
Ex. 22:31;
1 Pet. 2:9 (5-9);
TG
Holiness
d
TG
Separation
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3 ¶ Neither shalt thou
acountenance a bpoor man in his cause.
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3a
Lev. 1:1;
Moses 1:17
b
Ex. 3:12;
Moses 1:1-3
4a
Deut. 327:11;
D&C 124:18 (18,99)
5a
TG
Obedience
b
TG
Abrahamic Covenant
TG
Covenants
c
TG
Israel, Twelve Tribes
TG
Peculiar People
d
TG
Israel, Blessing of
TG
Treasure
6a
TG
Election
b
TG
Israel, Mission of;
TG;
Priesthood;
TG
Priesthood, History of
c
Ex. 22:31;
1 Pet. 2:9 (5-9);
TG
Holiness
d
TG
Separation
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4 ¶ If thou meet thine aenemy's
ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bbring it
back to him again.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying
under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely
ahelp with him.
6 Thou shalt not awrest the
bjudgment of thy poor in his ccause.
7 Keep thee far from a false amatter;
and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not
bjustify the wicked.
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8 ¶ And thou shalt take no agift:
for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
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9 ¶ Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye
know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
11 But the aseventh year thou
shalt let it rest and lie still; that the bpoor 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
oliveyard.
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12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the
aseventh day thou shalt brest: that thine
ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may
be refreshed.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you
abe circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other
bgods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
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14 ¶ aThree times thou shalt
keep a bfeast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the afeast of
unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded
thee, in the time appointed of the month bAbib; for in it
thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me
cempty:)
16 And the afeast of harvest, the
firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast
of bingathering, which is in the end of the year,
when thou hast gathered in cthy labours out of the
field.
17 Three times in the year all thy
amales shall appear before the Lord GOD.
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18 Thou shalt not offer the ablood
of my sacrifice with bleavened bread; neither shall the fat
of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the afirstfruits of
thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not
bseethe a kid in his mother's milk.
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20 ¶ Behold, I send an aAngel
before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which
I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice,
aprovoke him not; for he will not bpardon
your ctransgressions: for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all
that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine aenemies,
and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
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24 Thou shalt not abow down to their
gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly
boverthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall
bless thy abread, and thy water; and I will take
bsickness away from the midst of thee.
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26 ¶ aThere shall nothing cast
their young, nor be bbarren, in thy land: the number of thy
days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my afear before thee,
and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all
thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send ahornets before
thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from
before thee.
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29 I will not adrive them out from
before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the
bbeast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from
before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31 And I will set thy abounds from
the bRed sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from
the desert unto cthe driver: for I will
edeliver the finhabitants of the land
into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
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32 Thou shalt make no acovenant with
them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they
make thee sin against mea: for
if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a bsnare
unto theeb.
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33a They shall not dwell in thy land,
lest they make thee sin against me The Lord knows the beginning
to the end. He knew the fate of the children of Israel, that they would not
drive the heathen completely out of their lands. And thus they would fall
into the snare of worshipping their gods and sin against God. But men are to
made their own way and are responsible for their own actions. All God can do
is to warn them of the folly of their course. Thus God commands and warns
Israel that the other peoples in the land must all be removed, though
gradually least the land waste and wild beast enter into the land in the
place of the vacated people.
33b if thou serve their gods, it will
surely be a snare unto thee God will use the wicked to try and
test his people. He will also use them to bring his people into repentance
from time to time. When God's people are faithful and true, God supports
them against their enemies. When they are not faithful to God, God's support
in no longer with the people and others will come in upon them. This
affliction can work to bring the people unto repentance and then God will
support them again. Though it is cyclic in nature, it is a necessary self
balancing system of experience for God's people. God knows whereof the people
will fail, but their agency is their own and they must be tested in all
things during this second estate. God will not support his people in their
wickedness. And herein lies the need for an opposition in all things for
the experience and learning of God's children.
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