Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

因此律法放松，公理也不显明；恶人围困义人，所以公理显然颠倒。”

因此律法无效，公理从未彰显。恶人围困义人，所以公理遭受扭曲。

因此律法无效，公理从未彰显。恶人围困义人，所以公理遭受扭曲。

因此律法失效，正义不彰，恶人包围义人，正义被扭曲。

因此律法不能生效（“律法不能生效”原文作“律法松懈”），公理无法彰显。因为恶人把义人包围，所以公理颠倒。

因此律法放鬆，公理也不顯明；惡人圍困義人，所以公理顯然顛倒。

因此律法無效，公理從未彰顯。惡人圍困義人，所以公理遭受扭曲。

因此律法無效，公理從未彰顯。惡人圍困義人，所以公理遭受扭曲。

因此律法失效，正義不彰，惡人包圍義人，正義被扭曲。

因此律法不能生效（“律法不能生效”原文作“律法鬆懈”），公理無法彰顯。因為惡人把義人包圍，所以公理顛倒。

因此律法僵化，公理總不出現。因為惡人圍困着義人，故此公理就使出現、也彎曲了。

緣此法律廢弛、公義不彰、惡者環繞義人、公義顯然違反、

惡者枉法、環攻義人、律例俱廢、伸其冤者、卒無一人。

緣此律法已廢、是非不循理而決、惡者圍攻善人、以致曲直顛倒、○

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

The law can’t do what it’s supposed to do. Fairness never comes out on top. Sinful people surround those who do what is right. So people are never treated fairly.

So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.

This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Therefore the Law is ignored, And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out confused.

Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore justice goeth forth perverted.

This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted.

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers.Your silver has become dross, Your wine mixed with water.Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?

It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void.

Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?

Then He said to me,“ The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say,‘ The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’

Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You?They gather together against the life of the righteous, And condemn innocent blood.

“ You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.

In transgressing and lying against the Lord, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.

Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying,‘ Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the Lord had not spoken.The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

As a cage is full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich.They have grown fat, they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the needy they do not defend.Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.‘ shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’

The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.That they may successfully do evil with both hands— The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together.The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.

Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Lord, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

He said to them,“ All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forwardand said,“ This fellow said,‘ I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”And the high priest arose and said to Him,“ Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him,“ I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”Jesus said to him,“ It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying,“ He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!What do you think?” They answered and said,“ He is deserving of death.”

And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.They came to the chief priests and elders, and said,“ We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.

And I said:“ Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?You who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, And the flesh from their bones;Who also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh in the caldron.”

Then Jeremiah said,“ False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from bloodthirsty men.

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying,“ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

And all the people answered and said,“ His blood be on us and on our children.”Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt.Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt.And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold!

If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?

Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying,“ You will surely die!

God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? SelahDefend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.

And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying,“ Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

Therefore the princes said to the king,“ Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.”Then Zedekiah the king said,“ Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.”So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

For even your brothers, the house of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, Even though they speak smooth words to you.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”