God of gods and Lord of lords: this is another instance of a superlative (see verse 14). It means “the greatest of all gods, the mightiest of all lords” (see Psa 136.2-3) or “The LORD your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers” (Good News Translation). Lord means “ruler,” or “one who has the power to rule.” We may combine the two phrases and say “Yahweh your God is more powerful than all other gods and rulers.” For gods see 3.24.

The great, the mighty, and the terrible God: the adjectives great (see 7.21) and mighty have almost the same meaning, and their equivalents should be easy to find; Contemporary English Version combines the two terms with “tremendous power.” Terrible means “awesome,” one who is to be feared (see 7.21). The whole sentence may be also expressed as “and people should be afraid of his tremendous power.”

Is not partial: God does not have favorites; he treats everyone alike (see 1.17, where the same is said of human judges). Contemporary English Version has “his decisions are always fair,” or we may say “He always judges people fairly.”

Takes no bribes: as a judge God always gives a just and fair decision; he cannot be paid to render an unjust decision. If the figure of God’s (not) accepting a bribe is too strange or difficult for readers to accept, the figure must be abandoned and the meaning expressed clearly; for example, “he always renders a right decision,” “all his judgments are right,” or “when God judges people he is always just.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .