If anyone sins in that he is sworn to testify and has knowledge of the matter, either by seeing or hearing of it, but fails to report it, then he shall bear his iniquity and willfulness. – Leviticus 5:1, KJV

Sometimes – maybe most of the time – we just don’t want to get involved. If we see or hear falsehoods proclaimed around us, we’d rather not do anything to address them, if they don’t harm us. The problem is, if we don’t do anything about them, they do harm us, both in our standing with God and, very likely, later with mankind.

In Leviticus 5:1, God (through Moses) calls our failure to report a falsehood a sin.  As commentator Matthew Henry describes this passage:

Now, If a soul sin (that is, a person, for the soul is the man), if he hear the voice of swearing (that is, if he be adjured to testify what he knows, by an oath of the Lord upon him,), if in such a case, for fear of offending one that either has been his friend or may be his enemy, he refuses to give evidence, or gives it but in part, he shall bear his iniquity.And that is a heavy burden, which, if some course be not taken to get it removed, will sink a man to the lowest hell. He that heareth cursing (that is, that is thus adjured) and betrayeth it not (that is, stifles his evidence, and does not utter it), he is a partner with the sinner, and hateth his own soul; see Prov. 29:24. Let all that are called out at any time to bear testimony think of this law, and be free and open in their evidence, and take heed of prevaricating [avoiding telling the truth by not directly answering a question]. An oath of the Lord is a sacred thing, and not to be dallied with.

As Henry indicates, the context of Leviticus 5:1 points to a situation when someone is called upon to testify as a witness in an investigation. When called upon, we have an obligation to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If we hold any part of the truth back, we sin against God. Our partial testimony will likely have the effect of getting the perpetrator out of trouble, thus enabling the perpetrator to keep on sinning against God and against his fellow man. By enabling the perpetrator, we become his or her accomplice, making us just as much a perpetrator as the person we covered for.

God doesn’t look kindly upon us when we become an enabler of sin. Neither will our fellow man, especially when others are hurt because of our enablement. So, when you are called upon to testify about the sins of others, don’t shirk your responsibility to tell all that you know. Yes, telling the truth may hurt the perp and hurt your relationship with the perp, but your relationship with God is MUCH more important. Besides, it’s not your fault if the perp is hurt by his or her sins. He or she is simply experiencing the truth of Numbers 32:23 (KJV):

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.