Psalms 58:2

Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?

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

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.

‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

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?

You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;

What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time.

Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”

Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.

They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

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

But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the perfect day.

for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

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.

Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.”

He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;

You shall say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “A city that sheds blood within herself, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!

“ ‘ “Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been within you.

“Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.’ ”

In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel. My princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

Some of those who are wise will fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.

Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.

“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.

Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.”

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”

You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest.

Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them.

He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.

he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.

With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.

For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.

For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.

How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.

They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.

There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Yahweh’s counsel will prevail.

One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;

I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they will not benefit you.

“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.

Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.

As a well produces its waters, so she produces her wickedness. Violence and destruction is heard in her. Sickness and wounds are continually before me.

Yahweh says, “Record this man as childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no more will a man of his offspring prosper, sitting on David’s throne, and ruling in Judah.”

It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.

Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them will remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There will be nothing of value among them.

You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.

he who hasn’t lent to them with interest, hasn’t taken any increase from them, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,

has lent with interest, and has taken increase from the poor; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood will be on him.

“ ‘ “Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece. No lot is fallen on it.

Therefore tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. So should you possess the land?

Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.” ’ ”

Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which doesn’t alter.”

He said, “Behold, I will make you know what will be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.

“At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. He will enter into the countries, and will overflow and pass through.

but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.

Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’

Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.

Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’

One who hates and divorces”, says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence!” says Yahweh of Armies. “Therefore pay attention to your spirit, that you don’t be unfaithful.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person.

nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom.

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.

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

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.

The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.

Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands.

Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.

In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

As for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table; but it won’t prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.

They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.

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

The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”

Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;

When he came to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd;

Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.