Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”

If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

“If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.

“If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking,

the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required.

But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner.

If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal.

“If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution.

If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,

because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’”

“If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor,

“‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.

“‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

“‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

“‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.

“‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

“‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.

Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner:

Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates.

to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought.

For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life.

Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought.

But if out of hate someone lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor, and then flees to one of these cities,

Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.

Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor,

If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket.

If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.

When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.

Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.

If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession.

Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.

“Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

“Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbor secretly.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them.

If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.

The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.

The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.

“When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple,

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.

Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

“When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple,

All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.

Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage

After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.

For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

“The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand—

“When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.

“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.

whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others;

Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.

Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors and an object of dread to my closest friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us.

Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.

We are objects of contempt to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those around us.

Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.

You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.

Warnings Against Folly

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,

So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go—to the point of exhaustion— and give your neighbor no rest!

keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape.

Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good.

One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.

The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

Do not testify against your neighbor without cause— would you use your lips to mislead?

do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame?

If you take your neighbor to court, do not betray another’s confidence,

Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house— too much of you, and they will hate you.

Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor.

is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.

Those who flatter their neighbors are spreading nets for their feet.

People will oppress each other— man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored.

“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

Therefore this is what the Lord says: “I will put obstacles before this people. Parents and children alike will stumble over them; neighbors and friends will perish.”

Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.

This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them.

For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, so that he cannot conceal himself. His armed men are destroyed, also his allies and neighbors, so there is no one to say,

As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns,” says the Lord, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares the Lord, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has decreed for Jacob that his neighbors become his foes; Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity.

before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.

He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.

(though the father has done none of them): “He eats at the mountain shrines. He defiles his neighbor’s wife.

“He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.

In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

“‘No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.’”

You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not relent. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth,

Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips.

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!

“‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor.

For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

Love for Enemies

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.

and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?