15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent(A)
    the Lord detests them both.(B)

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15 Judging the righteous wicked and the wicked righteous—
    the Lord detests both of these.

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26 If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good,(A)
    surely to flog honest officials is not right.

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26 It isn’t good to punish the righteous,
    to strike the honorable for their integrity.

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It is not good to be partial to the wicked(A)
    and so deprive the innocent of justice.(B)

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Favoring the wicked isn’t good;
    it denies justice to the righteous.

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15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.(A)

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15 Acting justly is a joy to the righteous,
    but dreaded by those who do evil.

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11 Rescue those being led away to death;
    hold back those staggering toward slaughter.(A)
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
    does not he who weighs(B) the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
    Will he not repay(C) everyone according to what they have done?(D)

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11 Rescue those being taken off to death;
    and from those staggering to the slaughter, don’t hold back.
12 If you say, “Look, we didn’t know about it,”
    the one who weighs hearts—doesn’t he understand?
    The one who protects your life—he knows.
    He makes people pay for their actions.

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Further Sayings of the Wise

23 These also are sayings of the wise:(A)

To show partiality(B) in judging is not good:(C)
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”(D)
    will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
    and rich blessing will come on them.

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More sayings of the wise

23 These are also the sayings of the wise:

Partiality in judgment isn’t good.

24 Those who say to the guilty, “You are innocent”—
    the people will curse them.
    Nations will condemn them.
25 But it will go well for those who rebuke them.
    A rich blessing will come to them.

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Evildoers do not understand what is right,
    but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

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Evil people don’t understand justice,
    but those who seek the Lord understand everything.

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26 Many seek an audience with a ruler,(A)
    but it is from the Lord that one gets justice.(B)

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26 Many seek access to the ruler,
    but justice comes from the Lord.

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