Verse 14

Justice is driven back; godliness stands far off. Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square and morality is not even able to enter.

Referenced Verses

  • Hab 1:4 : 4 For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted.
  • Zeph 3:1-3 : 1 Jerusalem is Corrupt Beware to the filthy, stained city; the city filled with oppressors! 2 She is disobedient; she has refused correction. She does not trust the LORD; she has not sought the advice of her God. 3 Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.
  • Amos 5:11 : 11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.
  • Mic 3:9-9 : 9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You hate justice and pervert all that is right. 10 You build Zion through bloody crimes, Jerusalem through unjust violence. 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
  • Mic 7:3-5 : 3 They are experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men announce what they wish and then they plan it out. 4 The best of them is like a thorn; their godly are like a thorn bush. Woe to your watchmen; your appointed punishment is on the way. The time of their confusion is now. 5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust a companion! Even with the one who lies in your arms, do not share secrets!
  • Ps 82:2-5 : 2 He says,“How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked?(Selah) 3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! Vindicate the oppressed and suffering! 4 Rescue the poor and needy! Deliver them from the power of the wicked! 5 They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble.
  • Eccl 3:16 : 16 The Problem of Injustice and Oppression I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.
  • Isa 1:21 : 21 Purifying Judgment How tragic that the once-faithful city has become a prostitute! She was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now only murderers.
  • Isa 5:23 : 23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.
  • Isa 10:1-2 : 1 Beware, those who enact unjust policies, those who are always instituting unfair regulations, 2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans.
  • Isa 59:4 : 4 No one is concerned about justice; no one sets forth his case truthfully. They depend on false words and tell lies; they conceive of oppression and give birth to sin.
  • Jer 5:27-28 : 27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 28 That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.
  • Jer 5:31 : 31 The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!
  • Amos 5:7 : 7 The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground.