Deuteronomy 27:19
Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
This curse was spoken not with a human voice but with the voice of Christ from within the enfolding pillar of cloud. It belongs to the whole of Deuteronomy 26 and chapters 27 and 28, which are to be read carefully as a plain statement of the blessings of obedience. It is part of the charge to keep and do God's statutes and judgments with all the heart and with all the soul, given after Israel avouched the Lord to be their God and to walk in His ways and hearken to His voice.
It is one of the curses pronounced from Mount Ebal, the mount of curses, upon the disobedient, set against the blessings pronounced from Mount Gerizim, the mount of blessings, upon the obedient. It belongs to the instruction given after Israel passed over Jordan to plaster stones and write the commandments of God upon them, showing how careful and particular God was over Israel because they were so forgetful. It is part of the covenant vows Israel renewed at Shechem, where Ebal and Gerizim witnessed their solemn commitments as they entered and settled in Canaan, and which Joshua afterward rehearsed to Israel as curses for disregarding God's law along with blessings for obedience. God had the law made known in this public way because of its great importance, to impress the people and make it familiar to them, and the blessings and curses together were repeated to impress their consequences on Israel. After each declaration the whole congregation answered Amen, and by accepting the conditions they placed themselves under solemn responsibility to fulfill them.
The declaration is that perverting the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow brings God's curse. It expresses the principles of the law of God's kingdom made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty; obedience to God's commandments is for present and future good and brings prosperity, while disobedience results in a curse and shows the serious disadvantage of violating His commandments. God gave the curses to deter from transgression and encourage obedience, for He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but takes the greatest pleasure in those who turn from sin. All whom God has blessed with life and health and advantages in temporal and spiritual things are under never-ceasing obligation to publicly acknowledge His favor, so that God's name will be glorified as a testimony that His Word is verity and truth. The warning applies to unjustly disadvantaging a vulnerable person, including a blind man, in dealings that affect his efforts to support himself.