going to court

¹¹And when they will lead you to the synagogues, and to magistrates and authorities, do not choose to be worried about how or what you will answer, or about what you might say. ¹²For the Holy Spirit will teach you, in the same hour, what you must say.”

¹⁷No object which has been formed to use against you will succeed. And every tongue that resists you in judgment, you shall judge. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and this is their justice with me, says the Lord.

¹How is it that anyone of you, having a dispute against another, would dare to be judged before the iniquitous, and not before the saints? ²Or do you not know that the saints from this age shall judge it? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy, then, to judge even the smallest matters? ³Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this age? ⁴Therefore, if you have matters to judge concerning this age, why not appoint those who are most contemptible in the Church to judge these things! ⁵But I am speaking so as to shame you. Is there no one among you wise enough, so that he might be able to judge between his brothers? ⁶Instead, brother contends against brother in court, and this before the unfaithful!

¹⁵But if your brother has sinned against you, go and correct him, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you will have regained your brother. ¹⁶But if he will not listen you, invite with you one or two more, so that every word may stand by the mouth of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷And if he will not listen to them, tell the Church. But if he will not listen to the Church, let him be to you like the pagan and the tax collector.

¹¹For Scripture says: “All those who believe in him shall not be confounded.”

¹¹And so, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead, refute them.

⁷When the ways of man will please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace.

⁶Instead, brother contends against brother in court, and this before the unfaithful! ⁷Now there is certainly an offense among you, beyond everything else, when you have court cases against one another. Should you not accept injury instead? Should you not endure being cheated instead?

²⁸And we know that, for those who love God, all things work together unto good, for those who, in accordance with his purpose, are called to be saints.

⁵⁷And why do you not, even among yourselves, judge what is just? ⁵⁸So, when you are going with your adversary to the ruler, while you are on the way, make an effort to be freed from him, lest perhaps he may lead you to the judge, and the judge may deliver you to the officer, and the officer may cast you into prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, you will not depart from there, until you have paid the very last coin.”

⁸The things that your eyes have seen, do not offer hastily in a quarrel, lest afterward you may not be able to make amends, when you have dishonored your friend.

¹How is it that anyone of you, having a dispute against another, would dare to be judged before the iniquitous, and not before the saints? ²Or do you not know that the saints from this age shall judge it? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you unworthy, then, to judge even the smallest matters? ³Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things of this age? ⁴Therefore, if you have matters to judge concerning this age, why not appoint those who are most contemptible in the Church to judge these things! ⁵But I am speaking so as to shame you. Is there no one among you wise enough, so that he might be able to judge between his brothers? ⁶Instead, brother contends against brother in court, and this before the unfaithful!

¹⁵But if your brother has sinned against you, go and correct him, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you will have regained your brother.

³¹Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and outcry and blasphemy be taken away from you, along with all malice.

⁴Behold, you fast with strife and contention, and you strike with the fist impiously. Do not choose to fast as you have done even to this day. Then your outcry will be heard on high. ⁵Is this a fast such as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day, to contort his head in a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Should you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? ⁶Is not this, instead, the kind of fast that I have chosen? Release the constraints of impiety; relieve the burdens that oppress; freely forgive those who are broken; and break apart every burden. ⁷Break your bread with the hungry, and lead the destitute and the homeless into your house. When you see someone naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh. ⁸Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your health will improve quickly, and your justice will go before your face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you up.

⁸But we know that the law is good, if one makes use of it properly. ⁹Knowing this, that the law was not set in place for the just, but for the unjust and the insubordinate, for the impious and sinners, for the wicked and the defiled, for those who commit patricide, matricide, or homicide, ¹⁰for fornicators, for males who sleep with males, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, ¹¹which is in accord with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, the Gospel which has been entrusted to me.

²¹You have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘You shall not murder; whoever will have murdered shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you, that anyone who becomes angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. But whoever will have called his brother, ‘Idiot,’ shall be liable to the council. Then, whoever will have called him, ‘Worthless,’ shall be liable to the fires of Hell. ²³Therefore, if you offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there, before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then you may approach and offer your gift. ²⁵Be reconciled with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest perhaps the adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown in prison. ²⁶Amen I say to you, that you shall not go forth from there, until you have repaid the last quarter.