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Speak out; judge righteously;
    defend the rights of the poor and needy.(A)

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17     learn to do good;
seek justice;
    rescue the oppressed;
defend the orphan;
    plead for the widow.(A)

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16 I charged your judges at that time: ‘Give the members of your community a fair hearing and judge rightly between one person and another, whether kin or resident alien.(A)

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15 “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.(A)

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11 Therefore because you trample on the poor
    and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.(A)
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe
    and push aside the needy in the gate.(B)

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27 Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for[a] your sins with righteousness and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 4.27 Aram break off

Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.(A)

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15 I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
    and I championed the cause of the stranger.(A)

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“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another;(A)

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15 Are you a king
    because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
    and do justice and righteousness?
    Then it was well with him.(A)
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
    says the Lord.(B)

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The Rider on the White Horse

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war.(A)

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You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;[a]
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.9 Other ancient authorities read wickedness

24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”(A)

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The Righteous Branch of David

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.(A)

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28     they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;
    they do not judge with justice
the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,
    and they do not defend the rights of the needy.(A)

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Government with Justice Predicted

32 See, a king will reign in righteousness,
    and princes[a] will rule with justice.(A)
Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
    a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
    like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 32.1 Gk: Heb and for princes

but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
    and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.(A)

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23 Your princes are rebels
    and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
    and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
    and the widow’s cause does not come before them.(A)

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A king who sits on the throne of judgment
    winnows all evil with his eyes.

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12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
    for the throne is established by righteousness.(A)

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Psalm 72

Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King

Of Solomon.

Give the king your justice, O God,
    and your righteousness to a king’s son.(A)
May he judge your people with righteousness
    and your poor with justice.(B)

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Psalm 58

Prayer for Vengeance

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam.

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
    Do you judge people fairly?(A)
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
    your hands deal out violence on earth.(B)

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12 because I delivered the poor who cried
    and the orphan who had no helper.(A)

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David’s Officers

15 So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered justice and equity to all his people.

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Municipal Judges and Officers

18 “You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people.(A) 19 You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.(B) 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

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