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.
Study Note
Study Note
The three prohibitions for judges — do not pervert justice, show partiality, or accept bribes — constitute one of the Hebrew Bible's clearest formulations of judicial ethics. The rationale for the bribe prohibition is psychologically shrewd: 'a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous' — corruption does not only affect the corrupt, it impairs even wisdom and integrity. The verse reflects the international wisdom tradition of the ancient Near East, where codes like Hammurabi also legislated against judicial corruption, showing that the Torah's ethical demands were both continuous with and more radical than their cultural context. Jesus' exposition of 'justice, mercy, and faithfulness' as the 'weightier matters of the law' (Matthew 23:23) builds on this Deuteronomic foundation.
Other Translations
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.
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.
You are not to be moved in your judging by a man's position, you are not to take rewards; for rewards make the eyes of the wise man blind, and the decisions of the upright false.
Cross References
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many …
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person …
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every …
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall …
For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a …
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:
Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.