Deuteronomy 16:18-20
Legacy Standard Bible
Do Not Distort Justice
18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates of the towns which Yahweh your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (A)You shall not distort justice; (B)you shall not [a]be partial, and (C)you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 Righteousness! Righteousness, you shall pursue, that (D)you may live and possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you.
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- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit regard persons
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
New English Translation
Provision for Justice
18 You must appoint judges and civil servants[a] for each tribe in all your villages[b] that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly.[c] 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort[d] the words of the righteous.[e] 20 You must pursue justice alone[f] so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.
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- Deuteronomy 16:18 tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (veshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.
- Deuteronomy 16:18 tn Heb “gates.”
- Deuteronomy 16:18 tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”
- Deuteronomy 16:19 tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”
- Deuteronomy 16:19 tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”
- Deuteronomy 16:20 tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).
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