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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Legacy Standard Bible

Exodus 23:6

"You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Court;   Injustice;   Justice;   Poor;   Rulers;   The Topic Concordance - Judgment;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Courts of Justice;   Injustice;   Magistrates;   Poor, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Poor;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ethics;   Judge;   Justice;   Law;   Poor;   Punishment;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Justice;   Poor and Poverty, Theology of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Court Systems;   Exodus, Book of;   Hammurabi;   Judge (Office);   Poor, Orphan, Widow;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Canon of the Old Testament;   Covenant, Book of the;   Ethics;   Hexateuch;   Law;   Leviticus;   Poverty;   Priests and Levites;   Ten Commandments;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Law of Moses;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Justice;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Other Laws;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Amos (1);   Blindness, Judicial;   Covenant, the Book of the;   Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   Judge;   Justice;   Poor;   Wrest;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Commandments, the 613;   Deuteronomy;   Hatred;   Judaism;   Judge;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
King James Version
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Lexham English Bible
"‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute.
New Century Version
"You must not be unfair to a poor person when he is in court.
New English Translation
"You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits.
Amplified Bible
"You shall not pervert (bend) the justice due to your poor in his dispute.
New American Standard Bible
"You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt not ouerthrowe the right of thy poore in his sute.
Contemporary English Version
Make sure that the poor are given equal justice in court.
Complete Jewish Bible
(v) "Do not deny anyone justice in his lawsuit simply because he is poor.
Darby Translation
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Easy-to-Read Version
"In court, don't let anyone take advantage of a person simply because that person is poor.
English Standard Version
"You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit.
George Lamsa Translation
You shall not pervert the justice due to a poor man in his lawsuit.
Good News Translation
"Do not deny justice to a poor person when he appears in court.
Christian Standard Bible®
“You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit.
Literal Translation
You shall not pervert the judgment of your needy one in his lawsuit.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt not wraist the righte of thy poore in his cause.
American Standard Version
Thou shalt not wrest the justice due to thy poor in his cause.
Bible in Basic English
Let no wrong decisions be given in the poor man's cause.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt not hinder the right of thy poore in his suite.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
King James Version (1611)
Thou shalt not wrest the iudgement of thy poore in his cause.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Thou shalt not wrest the sentence of the poor in his judgment.
English Revised Version
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Berean Standard Bible
You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou schalt not bowe in the doom of a pore man.
Young's Literal Translation
`Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;
Update Bible Version
You shall not pervert the justice [due] to your poor in his cause.
Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
World English Bible
"You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
New King James Version
"You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
New Living Translation
"In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.
New Life Bible
Do not keep from doing what is right and fair in trying to help a poor brother when he has a problem.
New Revised Standard
You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thou shalt not pervert the vindication of thy needy one in his quarrel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not go aside in the poor man’s judgment.
Revised Standard Version
"You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his suit.
THE MESSAGE
"When there is a dispute concerning your poor, don't tamper with the justice due them.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.

Contextual Overview

1"You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a case so as to turn aside after the masses in order to cause justice to be turned aside; 3nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his case. 4"If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. 6"You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. 7Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify the guilty. 8"And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. 9"And you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Exodus 23:2, Exodus 23:3, Deuteronomy 16:19, Deuteronomy 27:19, 2 Chronicles 19:7, Job 31:13, Job 31:21, Job 31:22, Psalms 82:3, Psalms 82:4, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Isaiah 10:1, Isaiah 10:2, Jeremiah 5:28, Jeremiah 6:28, Jeremiah 7:6, Amos 5:11, Amos 5:12, Micah 3:1-4, Zephaniah 3:1-4, Malachi 3:5, James 2:5, James 2:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:16 - General Exodus 22:9 - the cause of both parties Deuteronomy 1:17 - ye shall hear Deuteronomy 24:17 - pervert Deuteronomy 25:1 - General 2 Samuel 23:3 - must be just Psalms 82:2 - judge Proverbs 22:22 - oppress Proverbs 24:24 - that Isaiah 5:23 - justify Isaiah 33:15 - shaketh Jeremiah 22:3 - Execute Habakkuk 1:4 - wrong 2 Peter 3:16 - wrest

Cross-References

Genesis 13:2
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
Genesis 14:14
So Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, and he led out his trained men, born in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Genesis 18:12
And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
Genesis 21:22
Now it happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do;
Genesis 23:1
And Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Genesis 23:2
Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Genesis 23:4
"I am a sojourner and a foreign resident among you; give me a possession for a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
Genesis 23:5
And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
Genesis 24:18
And she said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink.
Genesis 24:35
And Yahweh has greatly blessed my master, so he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. As the poor man was not to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case, through the power of rich men, and the prevalence of their gifts and bribes, and to curry favour with them: the phrase, "thy poor", is very emphatic, and intended to engage judges to regard them, as being of the same flesh and blood with them, of the same nation and religion; and who were particularly committed to their care and protection under God, who is the Judge and protector of the poor, of the widow and the fatherless.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Four precepts evidently addressed to those in authority as judges:

(a) To do justice to the poor. ComparingExodus 23:6; Exodus 23:6 with Exodus 23:3, it was the part of the judge to defend the poor against the oppression of the rich, and the part of the witness to take care lest his feelings of natural pity should tempt him to falsify evidence.

(b) To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case was rather to be left to God Himself, who would “not justify the wicked,” nor suffer him to go unpunished though he might be acquitted by an earthly tribunal. Exodus 23:7.

(c) To take no bribe or present which might in any way pervert judgment Exodus 23:8; compare Num 16:15; 1 Samuel 12:3; Acts 26:26.

(d) To vindicate the rights of the stranger Exodus 23:9 - rather, the foreigner. (Exodus 20:10 note.) This verse is a repetition of Exodus 22:21, but the precept is there addressed to the people at large, while it is here addressed to the judges in reference to their official duties. The caution was perpetually necessary. Compare Ezekiel 22:7; Malachi 3:5. The word rendered “heart” is more strictly “soul,” and would be better represented here by feelings.



Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 23:6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor — Thou shalt neither countenance him in his crimes, nor condemn him in his righteousness. See Exodus 23:5; Exodus 23:7.


 
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