Proverbs 24:28-29 (ESV)
28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
Those who are first-hand witnesses of a crime are obligated by law to honestly testify to what they know when called to court, but the wicked person brings charges against her neighbor because of a personal grudge. This woman twists or embellishes the facts to make her neighbor appear guilty, hoping to get revenge for any wrong she feels she has incurred at the hand of her opponent. Although God’s law provides for justice through the legal system, the Lord does not approve of personal retaliation among his people. In fact, the recipients of God’s mercy and grace are called to extend the same mercy and grace to others, even their enemies. The one who truly trusts in the Lord would rather be wronged than disrupt the welfare of the community and bring shame to the cause of Christ by demanding payback for any injustice (often trivial) she believes she has suffered.