In addition, I have also noticed that in this world you find wickedness where justice and right ought to be.

Then I looked again at all the injustice that goes on in this world. The oppressed were crying, and no one would help them. No one would help them, because their oppressors had power on their side.

"But now I will come," says the LORD, "because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for."

Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city,

People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

I love those who love me; whoever looks for me can find me.

O LORD, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence?

Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere.

But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?

"This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it's not impossible for me.

So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you.

And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's people and the blood of those who were killed because they had been loyal to Jesus. When I saw her, I was completely amazed.

"Why are you amazed?" the angel asked me. "I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

The LORD said, "Assyria! I use Assyria like a club to punish those with whom I am angry.

But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations.

From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.

I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done.

LORD, from the very beginning you are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. LORD, my God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us.

For indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together in this city with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Jesus, your holy Servant, whom you made Messiah.

They gathered to do everything that you by your power and will had already decided would happen.

How great are God's riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways?

"I am the high and holy God, who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was,

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.

"You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him,

Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Have you caught up with me, my enemy?" "Yes, I have," Elijah answered. "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD's sight.

because they oppressed and neglected the poor and seized houses someone else had built.

When they eat, there is nothing left over, but now their prosperity comes to an end.

Let them eat all they want! God will punish them in fury and anger.

Arrows stick through their bodies; the shiny points drip with their blood, and terror grips their hearts.

Heaven reveals their sin, and the earth gives testimony against them.

This is the fate of wicked people, the fate that God assigns to them.

What hope is there for the godless in the hour when God demands their life?

They should have desired the joy he gives; they should have constantly prayed to him.

But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves; so why do you talk such nonsense?

They may have many sons, but all will be killed in war; their children never have enough to eat.

The wicked may have too much silver to count and more clothes than anyone needs;

The wicked build houses like a spider's web or like the hut of a slave guarding the fields.

Terror will strike like a sudden flood; a wind in the night will blow them away;

it will blow down on them without pity while they try their best to escape.

You will listen, O LORD, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage.

You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans; you will judge in their favor, so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

"But now I will come," says the LORD, "because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for."

The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."

God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:

May they know that you alone are the LORD, supreme ruler over all the earth.

May those who accuse others falsely not succeed; may evil overtake violent people and destroy them.

LORD, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy.

You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken."

Israel is the vineyard of the LORD Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.

We have rebelled against you, rejected you, and refused to follow you. We have oppressed others and turned away from you. Our thoughts are false; our words are lies.

There is so little honesty that those who stop doing evil find themselves the victims of crime." The LORD has seen this, and he is displeased that there is no justice.

But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The LORD has spoken.

With the funeral honors of a donkey, he will be dragged away and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates."

All Israel's leaders trust in their own strength and commit murder.

You have no respect for the holy places, and you don't keep the Sabbath.

Some of them sleep with their father's wife. Some force women to have intercourse with them during their period.

Some of your people murder for pay. Some charge interest on the loans they make to other Israelites and get rich by taking advantage of them. They have forgotten me." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

Do you think you will have any courage left or have strength enough to lift your hand when I am finished with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I keep my word.

I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they any better than the kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Was their territory larger than yours?

How terrible it will be for you that stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb!

You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel.

Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country.

We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

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.

And so the LORD says, "I am planning to bring disaster on you, and you will not be able to escape it. You are going to find yourselves in trouble, and then you will not walk so proudly any more.

Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,

You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot.

Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong.

The city's rulers govern for bribes, the priests interpret the Law for pay, the prophets give their revelations for money---and they all claim that the LORD is with them. "No harm will come to us," they say. "The LORD is with us."

In the houses of evil people are treasures which they got dishonestly. They use false measures, a thing that I hate.

Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars.

"Long ago I gave these commands to my people: 'You must see that justice is done, and must show kindness and mercy to one another.

"But my people stubbornly refused to listen. They closed their minds

Because they did not listen when I spoke, I did not answer when they prayed.

The LORD Almighty says, "I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners---against all who do not respect me.

For God will not show mercy when he judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgment.

Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths.

You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.

You have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.

Then he sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but he changed his mind and said to the angel, "Stop! That's enough!" The angel was standing by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

David saw the angel standing in midair, holding his sword in his hand, ready to destroy Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders of the people---all of whom were wearing sackcloth---bowed low, with their faces touching the ground.

For the LORD is a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods.

An angel of the LORD went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day there they lay, all dead!

the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things,

and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell. The angel shook Peter by the shoulder, woke him up, and said, "Hurry! Get up!" At once the chains fell off Peter's hands.

Peter followed him out of the prison, not knowing, however, if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.