Laws of Justice and Mercy

Do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who can save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:11-12 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down. Without wood, the fire goes out; without gossip, conflict dies down. Proverbs 26:20 With their mouths, the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. Proverbs 11:9 “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twist the words of the innocent. “Do not oppress a foreigner; you know how it feels to be a foreigner because you were also a foreigner in the land. It is the word of the Lord.