Exodus 23:1-11 ▼

1 |You are not to spread a false report, nor are you to join forces with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

2 You are not to follow the majority 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.

6 |You are not to pervert justice for the poor among you in their lawsuits.

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.|

10 |You are to sow your land and gather its crops for six years,

11 but you are to let it rest the seventh year, leaving it unplanted. The poor of your people may eat from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. You are to do the same with your vineyards and olive groves.