Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked.
- KJV Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
- BSB Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
- NASB Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
- NLT “Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Keep far from false charges and never kill the innocent, for God will not acquit the wicked. God Himself guarantees that injustice will not stand.
Overview
This solemn command warns against condemning the innocent and assures that God will hold the guilty accountable even if human courts fail. It places all justice under the watchful eye of the righteous Judge. The God who will not justify the wicked nonetheless justifies the guilty who trust in Christ, who bore their condemnation (Romans 4:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Eph 4:25Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Exod 23:1“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
- Deut 27:25‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Exod 34:7keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
- Rom 1:18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
- Lev 19:11“‘You shall not steal. “‘You shall not lie. “‘You shall not deceive one another.
- 1 Th 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
- Deut 19:16–21If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
- Nah 1:3Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
- Exod 20:13“You shall not murder.
- Prov 4:14–15Don’t enter into the path of the wicked. Don’t walk in the way of evil men.
- Job 22:23If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
- Prov 17:15He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Luke 3:14Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”
- Isa 33:15He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil —
- Rom 2:5–6But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 23:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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