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Exodus 23:19-21
New Catholic Bible
Exodus 23:19-21
New Catholic Bible
19 “You shall bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid goat in its mother’s milk.[a]
20 Promises and Instructions for Entering into Canaan.[b]“Behold, I will send an angel before you to protect you on your way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay heed to him and listen to his voice and do not rebel against him for he will not pardon your transgression since my name is in him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 23:19 Cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk was a pagan custom of the Canaanites.
- Exodus 23:20 Faithful service of the Lord was a condition for the entrance of the chosen people into the Promised Land. They would have to avoid defilement by other forms of worship and therefore by the peoples who practiced these. This is the context for understanding the laws regarding extermination and the anathema that were promulgated against foreigners; these laws were not applied to the letter (see Jos 6:17).
