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People will oppress each other—
    man against man,
    neighbor against neighbor.
Young people will insult their elders,
    and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable.

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“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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Judgment for Disobedience

“My people bend their tongues like bows
    to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
    They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,”
    says the Lord.

“Beware of your neighbor!
    Don’t even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
    and friend slanders friend.
They all fool and defraud each other;
    no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
    they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
They pile lie upon lie
    and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,”
    says the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“See, I will melt them down in a crucible
    and test them like metal.
What else can I do with my people?[a]
    For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows.
They speak friendly words to their neighbors
    while scheming in their heart to kill them.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:7 Hebrew with the daughter of my people? Greek version reads with the evil daughter of my people?

For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

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64 They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?”

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65 Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.

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28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.

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67 Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him,

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“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

11 “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.

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Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
    Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
    and together they scheme to twist justice.
Even the best of them is like a brier;
    the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns.
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now.
    Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.
Don’t trust anyone—
    not your best friend or even your wife!
For the son despises his father.
    The daughter defies her mother.
The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law.
    Your enemies are right in your own household!

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11 You rulers make decisions based on bribes;
    you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;
you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.
    Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.
“No harm can come to us,” you say,
    “for the Lord is here among us.”

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Judgment against Israel’s Leaders

I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!
    You are supposed to know right from wrong,
but you are the very ones
    who hate good and love evil.
You skin my people alive
    and tear the flesh from their bones.
Yes, you eat my people’s flesh,
    strip off their skin,
    and break their bones.
You chop them up
    like meat for the cooking pot.

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Israel’s Failure to Learn

Listen to me, you fat cows[a]
    living in Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor
    and crush the needy,
and who are always calling to your husbands,
    “Bring us another drink!”

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Footnotes

  1. 4:1 Hebrew you cows of Bashan.

12 There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign Lord.

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“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.

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17 “But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty!
    You murder the innocent,
    oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”

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13 Then at last the jealousy between Israel[a] and Judah will end.
    They will not be rivals anymore.

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Footnotes

  1. 11:13 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.

19 The land will be blackened
    by the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The people will be fuel for the fire,
    and no one will spare even his own brother.
20 They will attack their neighbor on the right
    but will still be hungry.
They will devour their neighbor on the left
    but will not be satisfied.
In the end they will even eat their own children.[a]
21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim,
    Ephraim will feed on Manasseh,
    and both will devour Judah.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
    His fist is still poised to strike.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:20 Or eat their own arms.

Oh, what a sinful nation they are—
    loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people,
    corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel
    and turned their backs on him.

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The Ironies of Life

There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!

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Job Speaks of His Anguish

30 “But now I am mocked by people younger than I,
    by young men whose fathers are not worthy to run with my sheepdogs.
A lot of good they are to me—
    those worn-out wretches!
They are gaunt from poverty and hunger.
    They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.
They pluck wild greens from among the bushes
    and eat from the roots of broom trees.
They are driven from human society,
    and people shout at them as if they were thieves.
So now they live in frightening ravines,
    in caves and among the rocks.
They sound like animals howling among the bushes,
    huddled together beneath the nettles.
They are nameless fools,
    outcasts from society.

“And now they mock me with vulgar songs!
    They taunt me!
10 They despise me and won’t come near me,
    except to spit in my face.
11 For God has cut my bowstring.
    He has humbled me,
    so they have thrown off all restraint.
12 These outcasts oppose me to my face.
    They send me sprawling
    and lay traps in my path.

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23 Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!”

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Shimei Curses David

As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei son of Gera, from the same clan as Saul’s family. He threw stones at the king and the king’s officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded him. “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. “The Lord is paying you back for all the bloodshed in Saul’s clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer!”

“Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?” Abishai son of Zeruiah demanded. “Let me go over and cut off his head!”

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32 “Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord.

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