Deuteronomy 16:19

Appointing Judges And Officials

¹⁸ “Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Bribe Blinds the Eyes

Pervert Justice

Show Partiality

Turn Aside

Wise Man

Wise Men

Be Partial

Show Favoritism

Wrest Judgment

Exodus 23:2

“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice.

Leviticus 19:15

“You must not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.

Ecclesiastes 7:7

Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe destroys the mind.

Exodus 23:6-8

“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit.

Deuteronomy 10:17

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.

Deuteronomy 24:17

Do not deny justice to a foreigner or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security.

Deuteronomy 27:19

‘The one who denies justice to a foreigner, a fatherless child, or a widow is cursed.’
And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’

Proverbs 17:23

A wicked man secretly takes a bribe
to subvert the course of justice.

Proverbs 24:23

These sayings also belong to the wise:

It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

Deuteronomy 1:16-17

I commanded your judges at that time: Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge rightly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.

1 Samuel 8:3

However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

1 Samuel 12:3

Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged or mistreated? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to overlook something? I will return it to you.”

Job 31:21-22

if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child
when I saw that I had support in the city gate,

Proverbs 24:28

Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause.
Don’t deceive with your lips.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do what is good.
Seek justice.
Correct the oppressor.
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.

Isaiah 1:23

Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.
They all love graft
and chase after bribes.
They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,
and the widow’s case never comes before them.

Isaiah 33:15

The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots
and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil—

Jeremiah 5:28

They have become fat and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.

Ezekiel 22:12

People who live in you accept bribes in order to shed blood. You take interest and profit on a loan and brutally extort your neighbors. You have forgotten Me.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Micah 7:3

Both hands are good at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.

Habakkuk 1:4

This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Zephaniah 3:3-5

The princes within her are roaring lions;
her judges are wolves of the night,
which leave nothing for the morning.

Acts 10:34

Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism,

Acts 16:37

But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to smuggle us out secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out!”

Acts 23:3

Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”