Ecclesiastes 5:8

New Living Translation

Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.

Cross References

2 Chronicles 26:10

He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

Job 24:23

They may be allowed to live in security, but God is always watching them.

Psalm 12:5

The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do.”

Psalm 55:9

Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans, for I see violence and conflict in the city.

Psalm 82:1

God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:

Psalm 83:18

Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.

Psalm 95:3

For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.

Proverbs 22:16

A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty.

Proverbs 24:12

Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

Proverbs 8:17

“I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.

Ecclesiastes 3:16

I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!

Ecclesiastes 4:1

Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.

Ecclesiastes 5:9

Even the king milks the land for his own profit!

Ecclesiastes 7:7

Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

Ecclesiastes 8:9

I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

Isaiah 10:12

After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him—for he is proud and arrogant.

Isaiah 3:15

How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Isaiah 37:36

That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.

Isaiah 5:7

The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.

Isaiah 57:15

The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.

Ezekiel 18:18

But the father will die for his many sins—for being cruel, robbing people, and doing what was clearly wrong among his people.

Amos 5:12

For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Amos 6:12

Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

Micah 2:9

You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.

Zechariah 8:6

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Malachi 3:5

“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Luke 1:32

He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

Luke 1:35

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:76

“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

Acts 12:23

Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Romans 11:33

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

James 2:13

There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

1 Peter 4:12

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

1 John 3:13

So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.