¹⁶ “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

¹⁸ “Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely.

⁵⁹ Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council^[a] were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. ⁶⁰ But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward

¹⁵ “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

¹⁶ “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, ¹⁷ then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. ¹⁸ The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, ¹⁹ you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. ²⁰ Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. ²¹ You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

A Call for Justice

23 “You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.

Warning against Judging Others

¹¹ Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.^[a] If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.

¹⁰ The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders,^[a] liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching