16 “‘You must not go around spreading slander among your people.+ You must not stand up against the life* of your fellow man.*+ I am Jehovah.

16 If a malicious witness testifies against a man and charges him with some transgression,+ 17 the two men who have the dispute will stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who will be serving in those days.+ 18 The judges will thoroughly investigate,+ and if the man who testified is a false witness and has brought a false charge against his brother, 19 you should do to him just as he had schemed to do to his brother,+ and you must remove what is bad from your midst.+