KJV King James Version
Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Deuteronomy 16:19
Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
WEB World English Bible
You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
ASV American Standard Version
Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
Thou dost not turn aside judgment; thou dost not discern faces, nor take a bribe, for the bribe blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Surrounding context — Deuteronomy 16
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
17 Every man [shall give] as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up [any] image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
לֹא־H3808 · lonotתַטֶּ֣הH5186 · na.tahto stretchמִשְׁפָּ֔טH4941 · mish.patjustice: judgementלֹ֥אH3808 · lonotתַכִּ֖ירH5234 · na.kharto recognizeפָּנִ֑יםH6440 · pa.nehface: beforeוְלֹא־H3808 · lonotתִקַּ֣חH3947 · la.qachto take: takeשֹׁ֔חַדH7810 · sha.chadbribeכִּ֣יH3588 · kiforהַשֹּׁ֗חַדH7810 · sha.chadbribeיְעַוֵּר֙H5786 · a.varto blindעֵינֵ֣יH5869 · a.yineyeחֲכָמִ֔יםH2450 · cha.khamwiseוִֽיסַלֵּ֖ףH5557 · sa.laphto pervertדִּבְרֵ֥יH1697 · da.varwordצַדִּיקִֽם׃H6662 · tsad.diqrighteous
Cross-references
Leviticus 19:15Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.Exodus 23:2Thou shalt not follow a multitude to [do] evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest [judgment]:Proverbs 17:23A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.Deuteronomy 24:17Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, [nor] of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:Deuteronomy 10:17For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:Habakkuk 1:4Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.Isaiah 1:17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.Proverbs 24:23These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is] not good to have respect of persons in judgment.Ecclesiastes 7:7Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.Deuteronomy 27:19Cursed [be] he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.Acts 10:34Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:Exodus 23:6-8Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.Deuteronomy 1:16-17And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him.1 Samuel 8:3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.Acts 16:37But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast [us] into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.Micah 7:3That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge [asketh] for a reward; and the great [man], he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.Acts 23:3Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, [thou] whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?1 Samuel 12:3Behold, here I [am]: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received [any] bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
Compare classic commentaries on Deuteronomy 16:19
Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.
Compare commentaries →