Deuteronomy 16:19 · KJV
“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. {words: or, matters}”
— Deuteronomy 16:19
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.
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. {That which...: Heb. Justice, justice}
Deuteronomy 16 — Context
Every man {shall give} as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee. {as...: Heb. according to the gift of his hand}
18Judges 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.
19Thou 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. {words: or, matters}
20That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. {That which...: Heb. Justice, justice}
21Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Cross References
Leviticus 19:15
Ye 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 23:2
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to {do} evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest {judgment}: {speak: Heb. answer}
Proverbs 17:23
A wicked {man} taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
Deuteronomy 10:17
For 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 1:4
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. {wrong: or, wrested}
Deuteronomy 24:17
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, {nor} of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:
Deuteronomy 27:19
Cursed {be} he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Proverbs 24:23
These {things} also {belong} to the wise. {It is} not good to have respect of persons in judgment.