Leviticus 19:15

Easy-to-Read Version

"You must be fair in judgment. You must not show special favor to the poor. And you must not show special favor to important people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

King James Version
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Lexham English Bible
"‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the powerless; you shall not give preference to the powerful; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice.

New Century Version
"‘Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favor to poor people or great people, but be fair when you judge your neighbor.

New English Translation
"‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.

Amplified Bible
'You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor show a preference for the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

New American Standard Bible
'You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Ye shall not doe vniustly in iudgement. Thou shalt not fauour the person of the poore, nor honour the person of the mightie, but thou shalt iudge thy neighbour iustly.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.

Contemporary English Version
Be fair, no matter who is on trial—don't favor either the poor or the rich.

Complete Jewish Bible
(RY: v, LY: ii) "‘Do not be unjust in judging — show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty, but with justice judge your neighbor.

Darby Translation
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the lowly, nor honour the person of the great; in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

English Standard Version
"You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

George Lamsa Translation
You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor, nor respect the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

Good News Translation
"Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich.

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

Literal Translation
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor favor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Ye shall not deale wrongeously in iudgment, nether shal ye accepte the personne of the poore, ner honoure the parsonne of the greate, but thou shalt iudge thy neghboure righteously.

American Standard Version
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

Bible in Basic English
Do no wrong in your judging: do not give thought to the position of the poor, or honour to the position of the great; but be a judge to your neighbour in righteousness.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye shall do no vnrighteousnesse in iudgement, thou shalt not fauour the person poore, nor honour the person mightie, but in righteousnes shalt thou iudge thy neighbour.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor favour the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

King James Version (1611)
Ye shall doe no vnrighteousnes in iudgement; thou shalt not respect the person of the poore, nor honour the person of the mightie: but in righteousnesse shalt thou iudge thy neighbour.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Thou shalt not act unjustly in judgment: thou shalt not accept the person of the poor, nor admire the person of the mighty; with justice shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

English Revised Version
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Berean Standard Bible
"You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou schalt not do that, that is wickid, nether thou schalt deme vniustli; biholde thou not the persoone of a pore man, nethir onoure thou the face of a myyti man; deme thou iustli to thi neiybore.

Young's Literal Translation
`Ye do not do perversity in judgment; thou dost not lift up the face of the poor, nor honour the face of the great; in righteousness thou dost judge thy fellow.

Update Bible Version
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

Webster's Bible Translation
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

World English Bible
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

New King James Version
"You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

New Living Translation
"Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

New Life Bible
‘Be fair in how you judge. Do not show favor to the poor or to the great. Be fair in how you judge your neighbor.

New Revised Standard
You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Ye shall not act perversely in giving judgment, Thou shalt neither respect the person of the poor, Nor prefer the person of the great, - In righteousness, shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor: nor honour the countenance of the mighty. But judge thy neighbour according to justice.

Revised Standard Version
"You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

THE MESSAGE
"Don't pervert justice. Don't show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

Contextual Overview

¹¹ "You must not steal. You must not cheat people. You must not lie to each other. ¹² You must not use my name to make false promises. If you do that, you will show that you don't respect the name of your God. I am the Lord ! ¹³ "You must not cheat or rob your neighbor. You must not hold a hired worker's salary overnight until morning. ¹⁴ "You must not curse anyone who is deaf. You must not do anything to make a blind person fall. But you must respect your God. I am the Lord . ¹⁵ "You must be fair in judgment. You must not show special favor to the poor. And you must not show special favor to important people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor. ¹⁶ You must not go around spreading false stories against other people. Don't do anything that would put your neighbor's life in danger. I am the Lord . ¹⁷ "Don't secretly hate any of your neighbors. But tell them openly what they have done wrong so that you will not be just as guilty of sin as they are. ¹⁸ Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don't try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Leviticus 19:35, Exodus 18:21, Exodus 23:2, Exodus 23:2, Exodus 23:3, Exodus 23:7, Exodus 23:8, Deuteronomy 1:17, Deuteronomy 16:19, Deuteronomy 25:13-16, Deuteronomy 27:19, 2 Chronicles 19:6, 2 Chronicles 19:7, Psalms 82:2, Proverbs 18:5, Proverbs 24:23, James 2:6-9

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 1:16 - Hear 1 Samuel 2:29 - and honourest 1 Kings 21:11 - did as Jezebel Nehemiah 5:7 - I rebuked Job 32:21 - accept Proverbs 31:9 - General Jeremiah 22:3 - Execute Ezekiel 18:7 - hath not Ezekiel 18:8 - hath executed Zechariah 7:9 - saying 1 Corinthians 6:9 - unrighteous Colossians 3:25 - and 1 Timothy 5:21 - without preferring James 2:1 - with James 2:9 - if

Cross-References

Genesis 19:4
That evening, just before bedtime, men from every part of town came to Lot's house. They stood around the house and called to Lot. They said,

Genesis 19:5
"Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them."

Genesis 19:7
He said to the men, "No, my friends, I beg you, please don't do this evil thing!

Genesis 19:8
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man before. I will give my daughters to you. You can do anything you want with them. But please don't do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them."

Genesis 19:17
So after the two men brought Lot and his family out of the city, one of the men said, "Now run to save your life! Don't look back at the city, and don't stop anywhere in the valley. Run until you are in the mountains. If you stop, you will be destroyed with the city!"

Genesis 19:22
But run there quickly. I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town." (That town is named Zoar, because it is a small town.)

Genesis 19:24
and the Lord began to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He caused fire and burning sulfur to fall from the sky.

Genesis 19:25
He destroyed the whole valley—all the cities, the people living in the cities, and all the plants in the valley.

Genesis 19:27
Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he stood before the Lord .

2 Corinthians 6:2
God says, "I heard you at the right time, and I gave you help on the day of salvation." I tell you that the "right time" is now. The "day of salvation" is now.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment,.... This is said with respect to judges and witnesses, as Aben Ezra notes; that the one should not bear false witness in a court of judicature to the perversion of justice, and the other should not pronounce an unrighteous sentence, justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous:

thou shalt not respect the person of the poor; that is, in judgment, or in a court of judicature, when a cause of his is brought before it; though privately his person may be respected, and he relieved in his distress as a poor man; but in a court of justice his person and character as a poor man are not to be regarded; the cause is not to be given either for him or against him on that account, without regard to the justice and equity of it; he may be pitied in other respects but in a cause between him and another, even a rich man, not pity, but justice, must take place, :-:

nor honour the person of the mighty; not fear to put him to shame and blushing, by giving the cause against him, if he is in the wrong; his riches, his grandeur, his honour, must not came into any account, or have any weight or influence on the court to pervert justice: the Jewish writers, particularly Maimonides z suggest that there was to be no difference between a rich man and a poor man while their cause was trying; that they were to be clothed either both in a rich habit, or both in a mean one; and that their posture was to be alike, whether sitting or standing; as well as that no favour should be shown to one more than to another; as that one might have liberty to speak as much and as long as he pleased, and the other bid to be short; or the one be spoken tenderly to, and the other harshly:

[but] in righteousness shall thou judge thy neighbour; be he rich or poor, doing justice to both, and showing no partiality to either; see

Proverbs 18:5.

z Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 21. sect. 1, 2, 3.