Isaiah 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ¹  uprightly ² 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ³ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ⁴ 

and does not seek to harm others ⁵  –

Exodus 23:8

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ⁶  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 ⁷  the words of the righteous. ⁸ 

Proverbs 17:23

17:23 A wicked person receives a bribe secretly ⁹ 

to pervert ¹⁰  the ways of justice.

Jeremiah 22:17

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ¹¹ 

Ezekiel 22:12

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ¹²  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ¹³  declares the sovereign Lord. ¹⁴ 

Hosea 4:18

The Shameful Sinners Will Be Brought to Shame

4:18 They consume their alcohol,

then engage in cult prostitution;

they dearly love their shameful behavior.

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹⁵ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ¹⁶ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ¹⁷ 

[33:15]  ¹ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ² tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ³ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[23:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[16:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ⁸ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[17:23]  ⁹ sn The fact that the “gift” is given secretly (Heb “from the bosom” [מֵחֵיק, mekheq]; so NASB) indicates that it was not proper. Cf. NRSV “a concealed bribe”; TEV, CEV, NLT “secret bribes.”

[17:23]  ¹⁰ tn The form לְהַטּוֹת (lÿhattot) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of נָטָה (natah), meaning “to thrust away,” i.e., to “pervert.” This purpose clause clarifies that the receiving of the “gift” is for evil intent.

[22:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:12]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[7:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹⁷ 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.