Context No. 2868 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 27:16-20: in context

16‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonors his father’s bed.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

At the covenant renewal the Levites call out a series of curses, and after each one all the people answer, Amen. Cursed is anyone who dishonors his father or mother; who moves a neighbor's boundary marker; who leads the blind astray on the road; who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

Look at what these curses have in common. Nearly all of them name sins committed in secret, against people who cannot fight back. Shifting a boundary stone by night, misdirecting a blind man, cheating the powerless, these are wrongs a person dares precisely because the victim will not see it coming and no witness will catch it. By making the whole assembly say Amen out loud, the covenant drags these hidden cruelties into the open and puts the community on record against them. God's law goes out of its way to protect exactly those who cannot protect themselves.

In the places where no one would catch me and the other person could not fight back, do I still deal justly?

Sources

Deuteronomy 27:19: "Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow."
Proverbs 19:17: "He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD; he will reward his dealing."
Matthew 25:45: "Inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me."