Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people.“ Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another.

“万军之耶和华曾对你们的列祖如此说：‘要按至理判断，各人以慈爱怜悯弟兄。

“万军之耶和华如此说：你们要按真正的公平来审判，彼此以慈爱怜悯相待。

“万军之耶和华如此说：你们要按真正的公平来审判，彼此以慈爱怜悯相待。

“万军之耶和华曾对你们的祖先说，‘要秉公行义，彼此以慈爱和怜悯相待。

“万军之耶和华曾这样告诉你们的列祖说：‘你们要执法公正，各人要以慈爱和怜悯待自己的兄弟。

「萬軍之耶和華曾對你們的列祖如此說：『要按至理判斷，各人以慈愛憐憫弟兄。

「萬軍之耶和華如此說：你們要按真正的公平來審判，彼此以慈愛憐憫相待。

「萬軍之耶和華如此說：你們要按真正的公平來審判，彼此以慈愛憐憫相待。

「萬軍之耶和華曾對你們的祖先說，『要秉公行義，彼此以慈愛和憐憫相待。

“萬軍之耶和華曾這樣告訴你們的列祖說：‘你們要執法公正，各人要以慈愛和憐憫待自己的兄弟。

『萬軍之永恆主曾對你們列祖這麼說：你們要以真正的公平行判斷；各人都要以慈愛和憐憫待弟兄。

「萬軍之耶和華如此說：『你們要施行真理的審判，各人要以恩慈和憐憫對待自己的兄弟。

萬軍之耶和華云、當以公正行鞫、以仁慈矜憫相待、

我萬有之主耶和華曰、當秉公義、矜憫為懷、相待以仁、

萬有之主曾如是諭爾列祖曰、爾決是非、當秉公義、以仁慈相待、互相矜憫、

“ This is what the Lord Almighty said:‘ Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

“ Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,

“ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another.

“ The LORD of Armies says this:‘ Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.

“ This is what the Lord of armies has said:‘ Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

“ Thus says the Lord of hosts:‘ Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother.

Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother;

“ The Lord of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

“ The LORD who rules over all said,‘ Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.

“ Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying,‘ Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

The Lord has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you. You must act with justice. You must love to show mercy. And you must be humble as you live in the sight of your God.

Here is what the Lord says to you who belong to David’s royal house.“‘ “Every morning do what is right and fair. Save those who have been robbed. Set them free from the people who have treated them badly. If you do not, my anger will blaze out against you. It will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. No one will be able to put it out.

Do what is right and fair. The Lord accepts that more than sacrifices.

He stands up for widows and for children whose fathers have died. He loves outsiders living among you. He gives them food and clothes.So you also must love outsiders. Remember that you yourselves were outsiders in Egypt.

“ How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You give God a tenth of your spices, like mint, dill and cumin. But you have not practiced the more important things of the law, which are fairness, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.

He says,“ How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others? How long will you show mercy to sinful people?Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died. Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.Save those who are weak and needy. Save them from the power of sinful people.

The Lord and King says,“ Princes of Israel, you have gone far enough! Stop hurting others. Do not crush them. Do what is fair and right. Stop taking my people’s land away from them,” announces the Lord and King.

“ Does our law find a man guilty without hearing him first? Doesn’t it want to find out what he is doing?”

Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy when they are judged. To show mercy is better than to judge.Suppose a person claims to have faith but doesn’t act on their faith. My brothers and sisters, can this kind of faith save them?Suppose a brother or a sister has no clothes or food.Suppose one of you says to them,“ Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.” And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?It is the same with faith. If it doesn’t cause us to do something, it’s dead.

You must really change the way you live and act. Treat one another fairly.

Here is what you must do. Speak the truth to one another. Make true and wise decisions in your courts.Do not make evil plans against one another. When you promise to tell the truth, do not lie. Many people love to do that. But I hate all these things,” announces the Lord.

Your hearts are as hard as a field that has not been plowed. If you change your ways, you will produce good crops. So plant the seeds of doing what is right. Then you will harvest the fruit of your faithful love. It is time to seek the Lord. When you do, he will come and shower his blessings on you.But you have planted the seeds of doing what is wrong. So you have harvested the fruit of your evil conduct. You have had to eat the fruit of your lies. You have trusted in your own strength. You have depended on your many soldiers.

I want you to treat others fairly. So let fair treatment roll on just as a river does! Always do what is right. Let right living flow along like a stream that never runs dry!

I also gave them another command. I said,‘ Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.’

“‘ Be honest when you measure lengths, weights or amounts.Use honest scales and honest weights. Use honest dry measures. And use honest liquid measures. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt.“‘ Obey all my rules and laws. Follow them. I am the Lord.’ ”

“ Here is the way I want you to fast.“ Set free those who are held by chains without any reason. Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves. Set free those who are crushed. Break every evil chain.Share your food with hungry people. Provide homeless people with a place to stay. Give naked people clothes to wear. Provide for the needs of your own family.Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun. I will heal you quickly. I will march out ahead of you. And my glory will follow behind you and guard you. That’s because I always do what is right.You will call out to me for help. And I will answer you. You will cry out. And I will say,‘ Here I am.’“ Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down. Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong. Stop saying harmful things about them.Work hard to feed hungry people. Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed. Then my blessing will light up your darkness. And the night of your suffering will become as bright as the noonday sun.

Didn’t I tell you the same thing through the earlier prophets? That was when Jerusalem and the towns around it were at rest and enjoyed success. People lived in the Negev Desert and the western hills at that time.’ ”

“ How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give God a tenth of your garden plants, such as mint and rue. But you have forgotten to be fair and to love God. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first.

Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes. Do it in every town the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.Do what is right. Treat everyone the same. Don’t take money from people who want special favors. It makes those who are wise close their eyes to the truth. It twists the words of those who have done nothing wrong.Do only what is right. Then you will live. You will take over the land the Lord your God is giving you.

“‘ Do not make something wrong appear to be right. Treat poor people and rich people in the same way. Do not favor one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly.

Suppose someone is poor among you. And suppose they live in one of the towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Then don’t be mean to them. They are poor. So don’t hold back money from them.Instead, open your hands and lend them what they need. Do it freely.Be careful not to have an evil thought in your mind. Don’t say to yourself,“ The seventh year will soon be here. It’s the year for forgiving people what they owe.” If you think like that, you might treat the needy people among you badly. You might not give them anything. Then they might make their appeal to the Lord against you. And he will find you guilty of sin.So give freely to needy people. Let your heart be tender toward them. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work. He will bless you in everything you do.There will always be poor people in the land. So I’m commanding you to give freely to those who are poor and needy in your land. Open your hands to them.Suppose any Hebrew men or women sell themselves to you. If they do, they will serve you for six years. Then in the seventh year you must let them go free.But when you set them free, don’t send them away without anything to show for all their work.Freely give them some animals from your flock. Also give them some of your grain and wine. The Lord your God has blessed you richly. Give to them as he has given to you.