Exodus 23:1-9
New Living Translation
A Call for Justice
23 “You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.
2 “You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice. 3 And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.
4 “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner. 5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
6 “In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.
7 “Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.
8 “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.
9 “You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
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Exodus 23:1-9
International Standard Version
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. 2 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. 3 You are not to show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you are to certainly return it to him. 5 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]
6 “You are not to pervert justice for the poor among you[d] in their lawsuits.[e] 7 Stay far away from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent or the righteous, because I won’t acquit the guilty. 8 You are not to take a bribe because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and distorts the words of the righteous. 9 You are not to oppress the resident alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 23:1 Lit. set your hand
- Exodus 23:2 Or many
- Exodus 23:5 Lit. leave it with him
- Exodus 23:6 Lit. your poor
- Exodus 23:6 Lit. in his lawsuit
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