Various Laws

23 (A)You shall not give a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked person to be a (B)malicious witness. You shall not follow [a]the crowd in doing evil, nor shall you [b]testify in a dispute so as to join together with [c]a crowd in order to (C)pervert justice; (D)nor shall you [d]show favor to a poor person in his dispute.

(E)If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you must return it to him. (F)If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall not leave it helpless for [e]its owner; you must arrange the load with him.

(G)You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. (H)Keep far from a false charge, and (I)do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for (J)I will not acquit the guilty.

(K)You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [f]subverts the cause of the just.

(L)You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the [g]feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Exodus 23:2 Lit many
  2. Exodus 23:2 Or answer
  3. Exodus 23:2 Lit many
  4. Exodus 23:3 Lit honor
  5. Exodus 23:5 Lit him
  6. Exodus 23:8 Or distorts the words
  7. Exodus 23:9 Lit soul

Regulations Regarding Justice

23 “‘You will not spread[a] a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. You will not follow[b] a majority[c] for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority[d] to pervert justice. You will not be partial to a powerless person[e] in his legal dispute.

“‘If you come upon the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you will certainly bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of your enemy lying down under its burden, you will refrain from abandoning him. You will surely arrange[f] it with him.

“‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute. You will stay far from a false charge,[g] and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, because I will not declare the wicked righteous.[h] And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous. And you will not oppress an alien; you yourselves know the feelings[i] of the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Exodus 23:1 Literally “lift”
  2. Exodus 23:2 Literally “be behind”
  3. Exodus 23:2 Or “many” or “the many”
  4. Exodus 23:2 Or “many” or “the many”
  5. Exodus 23:3 Or “a poor person
  6. Exodus 23:5 Or “restore” or “put in order”
  7. Exodus 23:7 Literally “word of deception”
  8. Exodus 23:7 Or “treat as innocent” or “acquit”
  9. Exodus 23:9 Or “inner self” or “soul”