Proverbs 11:27

When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes, and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”

For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.

Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.

The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.

In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man. You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.

They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves.

Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”

David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed; for Yahweh God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of Yahweh’s house is finished.

You will not need to fight this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is with you.’ ”

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was pacified, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me.

Let the wicked fall together into their own nets while I pass by.

Yahweh upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down.

An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

Take away the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?

Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.

Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.”

because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the way that they treated people arrogantly.”

They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.”

Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

Ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded and struck Absalom, and killed him.

Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me now run and carry the king news, how Yahweh has avenged him of his enemies.”

There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”

Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house.

So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion.

As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they didn’t find you.

Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, “Please notice how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn’t deny him.”

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth.

David consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds, even with every leader.

Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.

In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold.

Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.

Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.

Don’t let the foot of pride come against me. Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.

I am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.

My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.

They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life.

For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.

because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.

Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!

The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.

The proud have dug pits for me, contrary to your law.

Ensure your servant’s well-being. Don’t let the proud oppress me.

those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war.

As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.

Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.

let them praise Yahweh’s name, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens.

but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about mischief.

for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.

A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:

He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!

Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms,

Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?

then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’

“ ‘Thus my anger will be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I will be comforted. They will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.

Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head;

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.

Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.”

But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”

Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’ ”

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”

The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

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