Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) If you see the donkey(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

“Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)

“Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

“Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in 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