Deuteronomy 16:19

Judges were forbidden to pervert justice, show partiality, or take bribes, which corrupt even the wise. Justice must be impartial and incorruptible.

Cross-references · 25

• Lev 19:15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
• Exod 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
• Prov 17:23A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
• Deut 24:17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
• Deut 10:17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.
• Hab 1:4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
• Isa 1:17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
• Prov 24:23These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
• Deut 27:19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
• Eccl 7:7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
• Deut 1:16–17At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.
• Acts 16:37But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”
• Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
• Exod 23:6–8You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
• 1 Sam 8:3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
• Acts 10:34Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
• Ezek 22:12In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
• Jer 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
• 1 Sam 12:3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
• Isa 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
• Job 31:21–22if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
• Isa 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
• Prov 24:28Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
• Acts 23:3Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
• Zeph 3:3–5Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.