Judgment and Justice in the Bible

27There came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh`s house?

28and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?

29Why kick you at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in [my] habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people?

30Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever: but now Yahweh says, Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

31Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father`s house, that there shall not be an old man in your house.

32You shall see the affliction of [my] habitation, in all the wealth which [God] shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

33The man of yours, [whom] I shall not cut off from my altar, [shall be] to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

34This shall be the sign to you, that shall come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them.

35I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever.

36It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, Please put me into one of the priests` offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

11Yahweh said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.

12In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.

13For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse on themselves, and he didn`t restrain them.

14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli`s house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering forever.

10The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

11The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

12There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head.

13When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

14When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What means the noise of this tumult? The man hurried, and came and told Eli.

15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

16The man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. He said, How went the matter, my son?

17He who brought the news answered, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

18It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

6But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it.

7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore on us, and on Dagon our god.

8They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? They answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. They carried the ark of the God of Israel [there].

9It was so, that after they had carried it about, the hand of Yahweh was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them.

10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.

11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people. For there was a deadly confusion throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12The men who didn`t die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

19He struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.

20The men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

14David said to him, How were you not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy Yahweh`s anointed?

15David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall on him. He struck him, so that he died.

16David said to him, Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain Yahweh`s anointed.

1Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

2The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

3but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter.

4A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man`s lamb, and dressed it for the man who had come to him."

5David`s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!

6He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!"

7Nathan said to David, "You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: `I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

13David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against Yahweh." Nathan said to David, "Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.

14However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh`s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

5David`s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!

6He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!"

9Why have you despised the word of Yahweh, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

10Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.`

11This is what Yahweh says: `Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.`"

28Afterward, when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before Yahweh forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

29let it fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father`s house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.

9David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

10when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?

12David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

15David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people.

5This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.

6Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,

8giving vengeance to those who don`t know God, and to those who don`t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,

9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

12that they all might be judged who didn`t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

3Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment of it; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

4but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

5I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir, says Yahweh.

6Thus says Yahweh: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment of it; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes

7those who pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the humble: and a man and his father go to the [same] maiden, to profane my holy name:

8and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined.

10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.

11Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine of it.

12For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins-you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right].

24But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

7You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

12Shall horses run on the rock? will one plow [there] with oxen? that you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;

12Aren`t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,

10You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.

16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh`s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.

17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men`s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.

2Yahweh answered me, "Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.

3For 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.

8Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men`s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.

12You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.

8However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

9But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

10For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all.

11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," said also, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

12So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom.

13For judgment is without mercy to him who has showed no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

1Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

11Don`t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.

2Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.

3Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.

4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cries out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

5You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

6You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn`t resist you.

9Don`t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won`t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

6The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals, and the Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Sidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook Yahweh, and didn`t serve him.

7The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.

8They vexed and oppressed the children of Israel that year: eighteen years [oppressed they] all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

9The children of Ammon passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

27I therefore have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: Yahweh, the Judge, be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

14The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers who despoiled them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

15Wherever they went out, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken, and as Yahweh had sworn to them: and they were sore distressed.

1The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

2The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

3So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them;

4and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.

5For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.

6Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.

56Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers;

57and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite on their heads: and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

17You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that you say, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and he delights in them; or where is the God of justice?

15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.

16Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and that thought on his name.

17They shall be my, says Yahweh of Hosts, [even] my own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

18Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn`t serve him.

5I 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 turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and don`t fear me, says Yahweh of Hosts.

1For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, says Yahweh of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

3You shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, says Yahweh of Hosts.