Exodus 23:1-9

Laws about Honesty and Justice

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1} “You must not spread a false report. Do not join^(a) the wicked to be a malicious witness.^(A)

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2} “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.^(B) ^{Tools
3} Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

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4} “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

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5} “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.^(b)^(C)

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6} “You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. ^{Tools
7} Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.^(D) ^{Tools
8} You must not take a bribe,^(E) for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words^(c) of the righteous. ^{Tools
9} You must not oppress a foreign resident;^(F) you yourselves know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Footnotes:

a. Exodus 23:1: Lit join hands with

b. Exodus 23:5: Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him

c. Exodus 23:8: Or and subverts the cause

Cross references:

A. Exodus 23:1: Psalm 35:11; Psalm 101:5; Acts 6:11

B. Exodus 23:2: Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 27:19

C. Exodus 23:5: Deuteronomy 22:1; Deuteronomy 22:4; Romans 12:20

D. Exodus 23:6: Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ephesians 4:25

E. Exodus 23:8: Deuteronomy 10:17; Deuteronomy 16:19; Proverbs 15:27

F. Exodus 23:9: Exodus 22:21