Isaiah 1:23

The rulers are rebellious, love bribes, and ignore the orphan and widow. Corrupt leadership oppresses the vulnerable instead of defending them.

Cross-references · 27

• Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
• Exod 23:8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
• Zech 7:10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
• Luke 18:2–5“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.
• Acts 4:5–11The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
• Luke 19:46He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
• Isa 10:1–2Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
• Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
• Jer 5:28–29They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
• Isa 3:14The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.
• Isa 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
• Mark 11:17Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
• 2 Chr 36:14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
• Prov 29:24A partner to a thief hates his own soul; he receives the oath, but does not testify.
• Matt 21:13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
• 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.
• Hos 7:3–5They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
• Mic 3:1–3Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
• Hos 9:15All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.
• Hos 4:18When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.
• Jer 5:5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.
• Prov 17:23A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
• Ezek 22:6–12See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
• Jer 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
• 2 Chr 24:17–21After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
• Dan 9:5–6we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
• Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

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