Add parallel Print Page Options

23 They take bribes to let the wicked go free,
    and they punish the innocent.

Read full chapter

They deprive the poor of justice
    and deny the rights of the needy among my people.
They prey on widows
    and take advantage of orphans.

Read full chapter

You have condemned and killed innocent people,[a] who do not resist you.[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:6a Or killed the Righteous One.
  2. 5:6b Or Don’t they resist you? or Doesn’t God oppose you? or Aren’t they now accusing you before God?

15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
    both are detestable to the Lord.

Read full chapter

21 They gang up against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.

Read full chapter

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.

Read full chapter

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.”

Read full chapter

23 Your leaders are rebels,
    the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
    and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
    or fight for the rights of widows.

Read full chapter

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine.
    Rulers should not crave alcohol.
For if they drink, they may forget the law
    and not give justice to the oppressed.

Read full chapter

24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 27:25 Greek “His blood be on us and on our children.”

24 A judge who says to the wicked, “You are innocent,”
    will be cursed by many people and denounced by the nations.

Read full chapter

23 The wicked take secret bribes
    to pervert the course of justice.

Read full chapter

Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.”

Read full chapter

19 You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.

Read full chapter

35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.

Read full chapter

13 Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused Naboth before all the people, saying, “He cursed God and the king.” So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death.

Read full chapter

“In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.

“Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.

“Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.

“You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends