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Micah 6:12
The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence; her inhabitants lie, their tongues speak deceptive words.
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Matthew 23:13
“ But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
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Proverbs 20:17
Bread gained by deceit tastes sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
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Proverbs 9:17
“ Stolen waters are sweet, and food obtained in secret is pleasant!”
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Jeremiah 5:26-28
“ Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people.Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.
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Ezekiel 22:25-29
Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it.Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst.Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit.Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying,‘ This is what the sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.
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Psalms 14:4
All those who behave wickedly do not understand– those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to the LORD.
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Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says:“ The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.
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Amos 8:4-6
Listen to this, you who trample the needy, and do away with the destitute in the land.You say,“ When will the new moon festival be over, so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, so we can open up the grain bins? We’re eager to sell less for a higher price, and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales!We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, a pair of sandals for the needy! We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”
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Job 24:5-6
Like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their labor, seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides food for them and for their children.They reap fodder in the field, and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
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James 5:4-5
Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
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Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.
