Isaiah 59:6
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6 Their webs cannot serve as clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.(A)
Revelation 3:17-18
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17 For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.(A) 18 Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.(B)
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Jeremiah 6:7
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7 As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her wickedness;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.(A)
Isaiah 57:12
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12 I will announce your verdict,
and the objects you made will not help you.
Romans 4:6-8
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6 So also David pronounces a blessing on those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered;(A)
8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”
Romans 3:20-22
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20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.(A)
Righteousness through Faith
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets,(B) 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ[a] for all who believe.[b] For there is no distinction,(C)
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Zephaniah 3:3-4
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3 The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
that leave nothing until the morning.(A)
4 Its prophets are reckless,
faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred;
they have done violence to the law.(B)
Zephaniah 1:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill their master’s house
with violence and fraud.(A)
Habakkuk 1:2-4
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The Prophet’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?(A)
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.(B)
4 So the law becomes slack,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous;
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.(C)
Micah 6:12
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12 Your[a] wealthy are full of violence;
your[b] inhabitants speak lies
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
Micah 3:1-11
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Wicked Rulers and Prophets
3 And I said:
Listen, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
Should you not know justice?—(A)
2 you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin off my people[a]
and the flesh off their bones,(B)
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
flay their skin off them,
break their bones in pieces,
and chop them up like meat[b] in a kettle,
like flesh in a caldron.(C)
4 Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time
because they have acted wickedly.(D)
5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat
but declare war against those
who put nothing into their mouths.(E)
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without revelation.
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;(F)
7 the seers shall be disgraced
and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.(G)
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.(H)
9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
and pervert all equity,(I)
10 who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with wrong!(J)
11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe;
its priests teach for a price;
its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
“Surely the Lord is with us!
No harm shall come upon us.”(K)
Micah 2:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 But you rise up against my people[a] as an enemy;
you strip the robe from the peaceful,[b]
from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.
Micah 2:1-3
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Social Evils Denounced
2 Woe to those who devise wickedness
and evil deeds[a] on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in their power.(A)
2 They covet fields and seize them,
houses and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
people and their inheritance.(B)
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Now, I am devising against this family an evil
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk arrogantly,
for it will be an evil time.(C)
Footnotes
- 2.1 Cn: Heb work evil
Amos 6:3
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3 you who put far away the evil day
and bring near a reign of violence?(A)
Amos 3:10
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10 They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.(A)
Ezekiel 7:23
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Footnotes
- 7.23 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Ezekiel 7:11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.
None of them shall remain,
not their abundance, not their wealth;
no preeminence among them.[a](A)
Footnotes
- 7.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 64:6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.(A)
Isaiah 58:4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.(A)
Isaiah 30:12-14
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12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word
and put your trust in oppression and deceit
and rely on them,(A)
13 therefore this iniquity shall become for you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;(B)
14 its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a sherd is found
for taking fire from the hearth
or dipping water out of the cistern.(C)
Isaiah 30:1
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The Futility of Reliance on Egypt
30 Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan but not mine;
who make an alliance but against my will,
adding sin to sin;(A)
Isaiah 28:18-20
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18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.(A)
19 As often as it passes through, it will take you,
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night,
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.”(B)
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering is too narrow to wrap oneself in it.
Isaiah 5:7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
but heard a cry!(A)
Psalm 58:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.(A)
Job 8:14-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 Their confidence is gossamer,
a spider’s house their trust.
15 If one leans against its house, it will not stand;
if one lays hold of it, it will not endure.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.