Exodus 23:1–13

Justice and Fairness

23^*“Do not spread false rumours, and do not help a guilty person by giving false evidence. ²Do not follow the majority when they do wrong or when they give evidence that perverts justice. ^3*Do not show partiality to a poor person at his trial.

^4*“If you happen to see your enemy’s cow or donkey running loose, take it back to him. ^5*If his donkey has fallen under its load, help him get the donkey to its feet again; don’t just walk off.

^6*“Do not deny justice to a poor person when he appears in court. ^7*Do not make false accusations, and do not put an innocent person to death, for I will condemn anyone who does such an evil thing. ^8*Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe makes people blind to what is right and ruins the cause of those who are innocent. ^9*“Do not ill-treat a foreigner; you know how it feels to be a foreigner, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

The Seventh Year and the Seventh Day

^10*“For six years sow your field and gather in what it produces. ^11*But in the seventh year let it rest, and do not harvest anything that grows on it. The poor may eat what grows there, and the wild animals can have what is left. Do the same with your vineyards and your olive trees.

^12*“Work six days a week, but do no work on the seventh day, so that your slaves and the foreigners who work for you and even your animals can rest.

¹³“Listen to everything that I, the Lord, have said to you. Do not pray to other gods; do not even mention their names.