Exodus 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹¹but 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.

¹²For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.