Deuteronomy 16:17-19
New English Translation
17 Every one of you must give as you are able,[a] according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
Provision for Justice
18 You must appoint judges and civil servants[b] for each tribe in all your villages[c] that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly.[d] 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort[e] the words of the righteous.[f]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:17 tn Heb “a man must give according to the gift of his hand.” This has been translated as second person for stylistic reasons, in keeping with the second half of the verse, which is second person rather than third.
- 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 16:17-19
New International Version
17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.
Judges
18 Appoint judges(A) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.(B) 19 Do not pervert justice(C) or show partiality.(D) Do not accept a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent.
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