False Witnesses. ^15 (A)One witness alone shall not stand against someone in regard to any crime or any offense that may have been committed; a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^(B)

¹⁶ If a hostile witness rises against someone to accuse that person of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ the two parties in the dispute shall appear in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and judges in office at that time,^{(C) 18 (D)}and the judges must investigate it thoroughly. If the witness is a false witness and has falsely accused the other,^{(E) 19} you shall do to the false witness just as that false witness planned to do to the other. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.^(A)

Chapter 23

¹ You shall not repeat a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a witness supporting violence.^{(A) 2} You shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When testifying in a lawsuit, you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice. ³ You shall not favor the poor in a lawsuit.^(B)

^11 [a]You shall not steal. You shall not deceive or speak falsely to one another.^(A)

¹⁵ You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your neighbor justly.^{(A) 16} You shall not go about spreading slander among your people; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord.

Chapter 21

Seizure of Naboth’s Vineyard.^{[a] 1} Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Some time later, ² Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” ³ Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage.”^{[b] 4} Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer Naboth the Jezreelite had given him: “I will not give you my ancestral heritage.” Lying down on his bed, he turned away and would not eat. ⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, “Why are you so sullen that you will not eat?” ⁶ He answered her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “What a king of Israel you are! Get up! Eat and be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and, having sealed them with his seal, sent them to the elders and to the nobles who lived in the same city with Naboth. ⁹ This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰ Next, set two scoundrels opposite him to accuse him: ‘You have cursed God and king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ His fellow citizens—the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city—did as Jezebel had ordered in the letters she sent them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ Two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and the scoundrels accused him in the presence of the people, “Naboth has cursed God and king.” And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

¹⁵ When Jezebel learned that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to sell you, because Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he started on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Prophetic Condemnation. ¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ¹⁸ Go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ^19 (A)Tell him: “Thus says the Lord: After murdering, do you also take possession?” And tell him, “Thus says the Lord: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.”

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