Laws about Honesty and Justice

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join[a] the wicked to be a malicious witness.(A)

“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.(B) Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.[b](C)

“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.(D) You must not take a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words[c] of the righteous. You must not oppress a resident alien;(F) you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:1 Lit join hands with
  2. 23:5 Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him
  3. 23:8 Or and subverts the cause

Laws about Honesty and Justice

23 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join[a] the wicked to be a malicious witness.(A)

“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.(B) Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.[b](C)

“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.(D) You must not take a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words[c] of the righteous. You must not oppress a foreign resident;(F) you yourselves know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:1 Lit join hands with
  2. Exodus 23:5 Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him
  3. Exodus 23:8 Or and subverts the cause