Deuteronomy 1:16

¹⁴ And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.

¹⁵ So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: At 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.
KJV: And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
WEB: I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him.
ASV: And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him.
DARBY: And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth with him.
BLB: And I commanded your⁺ judges at that time, saying, “Listen between your⁺ brothers and judge righteously between a man and between his brother or the sojourner who is with him.

ÅB: Dengang befalte jeg også deres dommere og sa: Hør på de saker som deres brødre har seg imellom, og døm med rettferdighet mellom en mann og hans bror eller en fremmed som bor hos ham!
OTB: "Så påla jeg deres dommere på den tiden og sa: 'Hør sakene mellom deres folk og døm rettferdig, enten saken er mellom to israelitter eller mellom en israelitt og en fremmed som bor blant dere.
B1930: Dengang bød jeg også eders dommere og sa: Hør på de saker som eders brødre har sig imellem, og døm med rettferdighet mellem en mann og hans bror eller en fremmed som bor hos ham!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

John 7:24
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 16:18–19
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
Read in context
Leviticus 24:22
Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.
Read in context
Exodus 23:2–3
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Read in context
Exodus 22:21
Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Read in context
1 Timothy 5:21
I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
Read in context
Exodus 23:7–9
Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 19:6–10
And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.
Read in context