TSK · Isaiah 1:23

“You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous.

After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him. The king listened to their advice.

A wicked person receives a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice.

Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of the widow!

The LORD comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says,“It is you who have ruined the vineyard! You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem Therefore, listen to the LORD’s message, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem!

I will go to the leaders and speak with them. Surely they know what the LORD demands. Surely they know what their God requires of them.” Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority and refuse to submit to him.

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.

“‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood.

Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit.

The Shameful Sinners Will Be Brought to Shame They consume their alcohol, then engage in cult prostitution; they dearly love their shameful behavior.

Because of all their evil in Gilgal, I hate them there. On account of their evil deeds, I will drive them out of my land. I will no longer love them; all their rulers are rebels.

Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”

You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the resident foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow citizen.’

And he said to them,“It is written,‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a den of robbers!”

He said,“In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.

On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem.