Exodus 23:8

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹  and subverts the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 16:19

16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ²  the words of the righteous. ³ 

Deuteronomy 16:1

The Passover-Unleavened Bread Festival

16:1 Observe the month Abib ⁴  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ⁵  he ⁶  brought you out of Egypt by night.

Deuteronomy 8:3

8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. ⁷  He did this to teach you ⁸  that humankind ⁹  cannot live by bread ¹⁰  alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ¹²  uprightly ¹³ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ¹⁴ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ¹⁵ 

and does not seek to harm others ¹⁶  –

Ezekiel 22:12-13

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ¹⁷  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ¹⁸  declares the sovereign Lord. ¹⁹ 

22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together ²⁰  at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed ²¹  they have done among you.

Amos 5:12

5:12 Certainly ²²  I am aware of ²³  your many rebellious acts ²⁴ 

and your numerous sins.

You ²⁵  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ²⁶  the needy at the city gate. ²⁷ 

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ²⁸ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ²⁹ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ³⁰ 

[23:8]  ¹ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[16:19]  ² tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ³ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:1]  ⁴ sn The month Abib, later called Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), corresponds to March-April in the modern calendar.

[16:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the month Abib.” The demonstrative “that” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[8:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).

[8:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).

[8:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).

[8:3]  ¹¹ sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).

[33:15]  ¹² tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ¹³ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[22:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ¹⁸ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ¹⁹ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:13]  ²⁰ sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).

[22:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”

[5:12]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ²³ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ²⁴ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ²⁷ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[7:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ³⁰ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.