Those who want to kill me lay traps for me, and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me; they never stop plotting against me.

That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead."

So his wife and all his friends suggested, "Why don't you have a gallows built, seventy-five feet tall? Tomorrow morning you can ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, and then you can go to the banquet happy." Haman thought this was a good idea, so he had the gallows built.

"Are any of my officials in the palace?" the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the courtyard; he had come to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that was now ready.

Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone.

Yes, they burned like an oven with their plotting. All night their anger smoldered, and in the morning it burst into flames.

"In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help."

How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned.

Early in the morning all the chief priests and the elders made their plans against Jesus to put him to death.

The next morning some Jews met together and made a plan. They took a vow that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.

The wise have also said these things: It is wrong for judges to be prejudiced.

I have always been ready to welcome my people, who stubbornly do what is wrong and go their own way.

The LORD said to his people, "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace." But they said, "No, we will not!"

I listened carefully, but you did not speak the truth. Not one of you has been sorry for your wickedness; not one of you has asked, 'What have I done wrong?' Each of you keep on going your own way, like a horse rushing into battle.

I wish I had a place to stay in the desert where I could get away from my people. They are all unfaithful, a mob of traitors.

Everyone must be on guard against their friends, and no one can trust their relatives; for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob, and everyone slanders their friends.

(SEE 9:5)

Their tongues are like deadly arrows; they always tell lies. Everyone speaks friendly words to their neighbors, but they are really setting a trap for them.

No, the LORD has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

The LORD loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked.

And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.

Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the LORD will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.

They know that God's law says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.

Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.

I know what you have done; I know how hard you have worked and how patient you have been. I know that you cannot tolerate evil people and that you have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and have found out that they are liars.