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Justice for All

23 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness.(A) You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice,[a](B) nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.

“When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.(C)

“When you see the donkey of one who hates you struggling under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.(D)

“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits.(E) Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty.(F) You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds officials and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.(G)

“You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.2 Gk: Heb lacks justice

23 Don’t spread false rumors. Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness. Don’t take sides with important people to do wrong. When you act as a witness, don’t stretch the truth to favor important people. But don’t privilege unimportant people in their lawsuits either.

When you happen to come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has wandered off, you should bring it back to them.

When you see a donkey that belongs to someone who hates you and it’s lying down under its load and you are inclined not to help set it free, you must help set it free.

Don’t undermine the justice that your poor deserve in their lawsuits. Stay away from making a false charge. Don’t put an innocent person who is in the right to death, because I will not consider innocent those who do such evil. Don’t take a bribe, because a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

Don’t oppress an immigrant. You know what it’s like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt.

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