Habakkuk 1:4

Because of widespread wickedness, the law has become powerless and justice is perverted, with the wicked overwhelming the righteous. It diagnoses the breakdown of a just society when sin goes unrestrained.

Cross-references · 40

• Job 21:7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
• Isa 1:21–23See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
• Ps 94:20–21Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?
• Ps 119:126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
• Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
• Ezek 9:9He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
• Isa 59:13–15rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
• Isa 5:20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
• Exod 23:6You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
• Deut 16:19Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
• Exod 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
• Hos 10:4They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
• Ezek 22:25–30The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
• Amos 5:12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
• Ps 58:1–2For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
• Rom 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
• Jer 5:27–29Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
• Jer 37:14–16“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
• Jer 26:21–23King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went to Egypt.
• Acts 7:52Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
• Jas 2:6–7But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
• Ps 94:3How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
• Ps 59:4For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.
• Ps 59:2Deliver me from workers of iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed.
• Matt 27:25–26All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
• Matt 27:1–2When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.
• Matt 23:34–36Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.
• Matt 26:59–66Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
• Mic 3:1–3Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
• Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
• Mic 7:2–4The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
• Mark 7:9He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.
• Acts 7:59While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
• Acts 23:12–14When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
• Amos 5:7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
• Isa 59:2–8But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
• Ps 11:3If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
• 1 Kgs 21:13And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
• Ps 22:16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
• Ps 82:1–5A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.