Verse of the Day — Thursday, May 7, 2026

Deuteronomy opens with Moses speaking to Israel on the plains of Moab, right before they cross into the promised land. He knows he won't be going with them, so he looks back over the forty years since they left Mount Sinai, which he calls Horeb, and reminds this new generation how they got here.

One of the first memories he brings up is a practical problem. The people had grown so numerous that Moses could no longer carry the weight of all their quarrels by himself, so he had them choose wise, respected men from each tribe, and he made them leaders and judges over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Verse 17 is part of the instruction he gave those new judges on the day he appointed them.

The first thing he tells them is not to show partiality. The Hebrew phrase literally means "don't recognize faces," which is a vivid way of saying that a judge shouldn't let it matter whose face is standing in front of him. A poor farmer and a wealthy clan leader were to get the same hearing, which is why Moses adds that they must listen to the small just as carefully as the great.

Then he uses the word "face" again. They are not to be afraid of the face of any man, because a judge in a tribal society could easily feel pressure from a powerful family, an angry crowd, or a friend. Moses gives them the reason they can stand firm: the judgment is God's. When they decide a case, they are acting on God's behalf, so the verdict has to match his justice, and they answer to him more than to anyone in the room.

Finally, Moses gives them a way out for the cases they can't untangle. Anything too hard for them, they should bring to him, and he will hear it. So the verse sketches a whole system of justice in a few lines: fair, unafraid, rooted in God's own character, and humble enough to pass the hardest questions up the line.