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Summary:
...Are
there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure
with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
For the
rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof
have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
...And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
...Hear
this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes
of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The
heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach
for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will
they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none
evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed
as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain
of the house as the high places of the forest.
...Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking
the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
...My son,
if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with
us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent
without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and
whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious
substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot
among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in
the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their
feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain
the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait
for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So
are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh
away the life of the owners thereof.
Further reading:
(1) Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of
(2) The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity, Mic0702-04.
(3) We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my (Paul's) trust, 1Tm0108-11.
(4) But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not, 2Pe0201-03.
(5) But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets, Luk0624-26.
(6) Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you, Jas0501-06.
(7) Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Isa0310-15.
(8) Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not, Rom1209-14.
(9) Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, Rom1216-20.
Some examples of the law by the mouth of Moses:
(10) Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another, Lev1911.
(11) And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord, Lev1912.
(12) Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning, Lev1913.
(13) Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord, Lev1914.
(14) Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour, Lev1915.
(15) Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord, Lev1916.
(16) Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him, Lev1917.
(17) Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord, Lev1918.
(18) Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee, Lev1919.
Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Jhn0719.
(19) Are
there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure
with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
For the
rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof
have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth,
Mic0610-12.
(20) Now
we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge
of sin, Rom0319,20.
(21) And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed
before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty
years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise
of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no
more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore
then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it
was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator
is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against
the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given
which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law,
shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we
are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus, Gal0317-26.
(22) Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing, Rom1219-1306.
(23) Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law, Rom1307-10.
(24) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified, Gal0216.
(25) Do
ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth
in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands,
ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted,
and mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh
evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of
the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver,
who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest
another? Jas0405-12.
(26) Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin, Jas0413-17.
(27) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Rom0808-21.
(28) Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free, Gal0421-31.
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