1 Kings 21:14

“Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”

All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.

Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Don’t envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.

If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this,” doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness—and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.

All this I have seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.

For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn’t know it; all is before them.

Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’

Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

“Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?

He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.

Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.

He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you.

The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”

“ ‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.

You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;

A messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.”

In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment.

So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn’t consider it.

Upright men will be astonished at this. The innocent will stir himself up against the godless.

For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up.

“Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high?

God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.

Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me.

There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.

But you, Yahweh, are on high forever more.

Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?

For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods.

For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.

I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don’t marvel at the matter, for one official is eyed by a higher one, and there are officials over them.

There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked. Again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.

What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.

For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.

Therefore it will happen that when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his arrogant looks.

Then Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet I would like to reason the cause with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously?

Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, “Bring us drinks!”

For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.

Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;

You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away my blessing forever.

Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up.

Yahweh of Armies says: “If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?” says Yahweh of Armies.

I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.

and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,

The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,

When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.”

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.

As he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was terrified, and answered, “Go your way for this time, and when it is convenient for me, I will summon you.”

Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!

You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.

Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.

But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?

For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you.

Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.