who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
Parallel translations
- WEB who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!
- KJV Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
- NKJV Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!
- NASB Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
- NLT They take bribes to let the wicked go free, and they punish the innocent.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
These same people acquit the guilty for bribes and deny justice to the innocent. It condemns the corruption of justice that betrays the vulnerable.
Overview
Bribery that frees the wicked and condemns the righteous directly violates God's repeated demand for impartial justice (Exodus 23:6-8). This abuse of the courts is among the chief 'wild grapes' of the vineyard. The verse shows how indulgence and greed combine to trample the rights of the defenseless, provoking God's judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Isa 10:2to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.
- Ps 94:21They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
- Prov 17:15Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
- Jas 5:6You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
- Prov 31:4–5It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- Isa 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- 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.
- 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.”
- Prov 17:23A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
- 2 Chr 19:7And now, may the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
- Prov 24:24Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
- Matt 27:24–25When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”
- 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 23:6–9You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
- Matt 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
- 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.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 5:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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