A judge in Ohio released a man from jail Wednesday after the 43-year-old was able to prove his religious faith by reciting the 23rd Psalm.
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The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that after Eric Hine's lawyer said his client was a regular churchgoer, Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge John Burlew demanded he recite the psalm for his freedom and Hine promptly passed the test.
While Hine could have seen significant jail time for allegedly receiving stolen property, his religious knowledge gained him a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond.
Originally Burlew appeared to only want to test whether Hine actually attended church on a regular basis and asked him to recite the psalm's first line.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," Hine promptly responded.
It was then that Burlew gave Hine his chance to avoid jail time for using a stolen card earlier in the day and he quickly recited all of its six verses and 118 words, the newspaper said.