“You must not dishonor God or curse any of your rulers.
“You must not hold anything back when you give me offerings from your crops and your wine.
“You must give me your firstborn sons.
“You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats. But leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day.
“You must be my holy people. Therefore, do not eat any animal that has been torn up and killed by wild animals. Throw it to the dogs.
“You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.
“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice. And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.
“If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner. If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
“In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.
“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.
“Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.
Comment: It seems to me that God gave them instructions which set them on the way to living an ideal life! As we read slowly through this passage note the things which God stresses. 1. Acknowledge God for who He is. Give Him to the last cent what is His due! 2. Don’t curse and, by inference, if you don’t feel that your leader is not leading correctly pray for him/her. 3. Remember what God has done for you. The first born son reference was to take them back to the final plague and what God had done to deliver them from slavery. 4. They are commanded to be holy. We have difficulty feeling that being holy as being obtainable in the world of common day living. One of the definitions of ‘holy is ‘spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless’. It helps me to remember that Jesus was perfectly holy living in the world of His day. God has graciously given the Holy Spirit to live within us and, as it were, be our backbone to strengthen us to overcome when we are finding it tough to stop running with the tide of the godless. Though the godless are often ‘nice’ people! 5. The lived out ‘holiness’ is to put an end to gossip, half truths told to help someone, but rather to stimulate going the extra mile to help our ‘enemy’, and keep us meticulously honest with witness given and in financial dealings.
Prayer: By Your Grace keep me aiming always in the right direction. When I fail thank You for forgiveness.
As I read it! 