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23 “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. You shall not favor a poor man in his cause.

“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him. You shall surely help him with it.

“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked.

“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.

“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

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Laws about Truthful Testimony

23 “You are not to spread a false report, nor are you to join forces[a] with the wicked to be a malicious witness. You are not to follow the majority[b] in doing wrong, and you are not to testify in a lawsuit so as to follow the majority and pervert justice. You are not to show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you are to certainly return it to him. If you see your enemy’s donkey lying helpless under its load, you must not abandon it; rather, you are certainly to return it to him.[c]

“You are not to pervert justice for the poor among you[d] in their lawsuits.[e] Stay far away from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent or the righteous, because I won’t acquit the guilty. You are not to take a bribe because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and distorts the words of the righteous. You are not to oppress the resident alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 23:1 Lit. set your hand
  2. Exodus 23:2 Or many
  3. Exodus 23:5 Lit. leave it with him
  4. Exodus 23:6 Lit. your poor
  5. Exodus 23:6 Lit. in his lawsuit