Wicked people watch good people and try to kill them;

but the LORD will not abandon them to their enemy's power or let them be condemned when they are on trial.

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.

It will be the end of those who oppress others and show contempt for God. Every sinner will be destroyed.

God will destroy those who slander others, those who prevent the punishment of criminals, and those who tell lies to keep honest people from getting justice.

I was like a trusting lamb taken out to be killed, and I did not know that it was against me that they were planning evil things. They were saying, "Let's chop down the tree while it is still healthy; let's kill him so that no one will remember him any more."

Then the people said, "Let's do something about Jeremiah! There will always be priests to instruct us, the wise to give us counsel, and prophets to proclaim God's message. Let's bring charges against him and stop listening to what he says."

I hear everybody whispering, "Terror is everywhere! So let's report him to the authorities!" Even my close friends wait for my downfall. "Perhaps he can be tricked," they say; "then we can catch him and get revenge."

The Pharisees went off and made a plan to trap Jesus with questions.

Jesus, however, was aware of their evil plan, and so he said, "You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me?

Some Pharisees and some members of Herod's party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions.

But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it."

so he sent for a clever woman who lived in Tekoa. When she arrived, he said to her, "Pretend that you are in mourning; put on your mourning clothes, and don't comb your hair. Act like a woman who has been in mourning for a long time.

Jeroboam said to his wife, "Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives, the one who said I would be king of Israel.

So she went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind.

But when Ahijah heard her coming in the door, he said, "Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have bad news for you.

Say to God, "How wonderful are the things you do! Your power is so great that your enemies bow down in fear before you.

Those who hate me would bow in fear before me; their punishment would last forever.

In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!

They put him in chains, led him off, and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.

Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas' house to the governor's palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal.

Their answer was, "We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime."

(This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he would die.)