Add parallel Print Page Options

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.

Read full chapter

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

Footnotes

  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