Deuteronomy 16:19 You shall not wrest judgment; you shall not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise… Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, went into a hatter's shop in order to purchase a pair of shoe brushes. The master of the shop presented him with a couple. "What is your price?" said the judge. "If they will answer your purpose," replied the other, "you may have them and welcome." The judge, upon hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was leaving the shop; upon which the hatter said to him, "Pray, sir, your honour has forgotten the principal object of your visit." "By no means," answered the judge; "if you please to set a price, I am ready to purchase; but ever since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving to the value of a single copper, lest at some future period of my life it might have some kind of influence in determining my judgment." Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. |
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