Justice/InJustice - Warnings to Lawyers-Courts-Lawmakers Unless indicated otherwise all scripture is quoted from NIV (New Intrnatonal Version) . Click on to biblical references and go to Bible Gateway website where you can read verses in various versions and languages. Also search by word or verse.
Isaiah 10:1-4 1 Woe to those who make unjust laws , to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? 4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
Amos 5: 7, 10, 12, 14-15 , 24 7 You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground . . . . 10 you hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth. . . . 12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. . . .14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. 15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. . . . 24 let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Jeremiah 21:11-12, 14 11 ". . . 'Hear the word of the LORD; 12 . . . this is what the LORD says: " 'Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it. . . . 14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.' "
5 He appointed judges in the land . . . . 6 He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery."
Jeremiah 5: 26-29Not One Is Upright
26 "Among my people are wicked men [and women] who lie in wait like men [and women] who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch men.
27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful
28 and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
The Rape of Justice
Ecclesiastes 5: 8-10, 15 (New Living Translation)The Futility of Wealth
8 Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. 9 Even the king milks the land for his own profit!10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! . . . 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
Ecclesiastes 3: 16-17 (New Living Translation)
16 I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! 17 I said to myself, “ In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds .”
Psalm 58: 1-2, 10-11
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. . . . 10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then men will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth."
Psalm 64: 1-10
1 Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows.
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.
5 They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, "Who will see them [or us] ?"
6 They plot injustice and say, "We have devised a perfect plan! " Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down.
8 He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9 All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!
Deuteronomy 27:19
19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
Proverbs 22: 22-23 Sayings of the Wise
22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,
23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.
Isaiah 29 :20-21 20 The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down - 21 those who with a word make a man out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
Witnesses
15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, 17 the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, 19 then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Zechariah 8: 16-17 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts ; 17 do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the LORD.
Isaiah 59:1-21 Sin, Confession and Redemption
1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil .
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways .
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace. 9 So justice is far from us , and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none ; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 Forour offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us . Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back , and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along. 20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD.
21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever ," says the LORD.
Psalm 106:3 3. Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
Proverbs 18:55 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the innocent of justice.
Proverbs 21: 2-4, 12-152 All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
3 To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin! . . .
12 The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.
13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
14 A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
Proverbs 28:4-54 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.
5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.
Proverbs 29: 4, 7, 9, 144 By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down. . . 7 The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. . . 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace. . . . 14 If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will always be secure.
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 56:1 1 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Matthew 23:23
Seven Woes
Matthew 23:23 Seven Woes
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Jeremiah 9: 23-24 23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
Zechariah 7: 9-13 Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting
9 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.
13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 2:17, 3:5 The Day of Judgment
17. You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or Where is the God of justice? ". . . 3: 5 "So I will come near to you for judgment . I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers , against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless , and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me ," says the LORD Almighty.
Jeremiah 22: 13-15, 17, 21-23
13 "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.
14 He says, 'I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.' So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red.
15 "Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? . . . . 17 your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion.". . . 21 I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, 'I will not listen!' This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me.
22 The wind will drive all your shepherds away, and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in 'Lebanon, [That is, the palace] ' who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor!
Matthew 12: 15-21 God's Chosen Servant
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, 16 warning them not to tell who he was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory 21 In his name the nations will put their hope."
Isaiah 5: 16
Woes and Judgments
But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness.
2 Thessalonians 1: 6- 106 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Psalm 12: 5
5. "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them."
Luke 18:1-8The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men . 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary. '
4. "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly . However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Isaiah 58: 6-11
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [Or your righteous One] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Acts 17: 31 For he [God] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man [Jesus] he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead
Isaiah 3: 11-15 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.
12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.
13 The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.
14 The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Revelation 19: 11-16 The Rider on the White Horse
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war . 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God [Jesus- Read John chapter 1] . 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS .
Daniel 7: 9-14 9. "As I looked, "thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days [God] took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
11 "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)
13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man [Jesus] , coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
11 "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)
13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man [Jesus] , coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Hosea 12:6
But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.
