Exodus 23:1-11 ▼

1 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

3 And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

6 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,

11 but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.