שָׁפַט

Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.

May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”

“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”

The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.

“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.

And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

…then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

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.

You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.

…both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.

The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,

…your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

…he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. “I am old and well along in years,” he said,

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them.

Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.

Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.

But when the judge died, the Israelites became even more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods to serve them and bow down to them. They would not give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

Tola judged Israel twenty-three years, and when he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Tola was followed by Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years.

I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

After Jephthah, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

He had thirty sons, as well as thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage to men outside his clan; and for his sons he brought back thirty wives from elsewhere. Ibzan judged Israel seven years.

After Ibzan, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel ten years.

After Elon, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel.

He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.

And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.