“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.(A) Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

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

“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.[a](B)

“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.(C) You must not take a bribe,(D) for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words[b] of the righteous. You must not oppress a resident alien;(E) you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:5 Or load, you must refrain from leaving it to him; you must set it free with him
  2. 23:8 Or and subverts the cause

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(A) by siding with the crowd,(B) and do not show favoritism(C) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

“If you come across your enemy’s(D) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(E) If you see the donkey(F) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

“Do not deny justice(G) to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge(H) and do not put an innocent(I) or honest person to death,(J) for I will not acquit the guilty.(K)

“Do not accept a bribe,(L) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

“Do not oppress a foreigner;(M) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

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