Exodus 23:10-19

For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat;¹ and what they leave the wild animals may eat.² You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

For six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your home-born slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.³

Three times in the year you shall hold a festival for me.⁵ You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt.

Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.⁴

No one shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall observe the festival of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year all your males⁶ shall appear before the Lord God. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my festival remain until the morning. The choicest of the first fruits 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.⁷

1 God provides a specific means by which the poor may be taken care of.

2 Recovery for the land, rest for the worker, and time to focus on God alone are all legitimate reasons for the sabbath year. Here, though, care for the poor and for wildlife are the specific reasons given.

3 Rest for the poorest workers and for animals are the reasons given for this sabbath. What sounds like a religious, God-focused law has its roots in justice.

4 A summary statement on obedience to the law is given, beginning a transition into religious festivals.

5 The most obvious and basic means of demonstrating allegiance to God is shown, by attendance at festivals and sacrifice.

6 Attendance appears to be restricted to males.

7 This is an odd saying. Is it a way of showing compassion/empathy for the animals? My Study Bible explains that it may be directly against a Canannite fertility ceremony.

Take-home: Justice actions protecting the poor, wildlife, slaves, immigrants, and domestic animals are directly built into religious practices that affirm Israel's allegiance to the one true God.