So I said to the Lord, ¹  “O Lord who rules over all, ²  you are a just judge! You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³  I want to see you pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁴ 

O Lord who rules over all, ¹  you test and prove the righteous. You see into people’s hearts and minds. ²  Pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

I was a father ¹  to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

He will vindicate you in broad daylight, and publicly defend your just cause. ¹ 

If they say, “Come with us! We will ¹  lie in wait ²  to shed blood; ³  we will ambush ⁴  an innocent person ⁵  capriciously. ⁶ 

Then I will make their waters calm, ¹  and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the sovereign Lord.

For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad ¹  but the one I caused to be sad?

May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, ¹  so that he might vindicate ²  his servant and his people Israel as the need arises.

then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, ¹  vindicate them, ²  and forgive your sinful people.

By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall – all of them are the most terrifying among the nations. They will devastate the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes will be destroyed.

I will no longer subject you to ¹  the nations’ insults; no longer will you bear the shame of the peoples, and no longer will you bereave ²  your nation, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

“You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹  and subverts the words of the righteous.

For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt; Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.

In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant ¹  of David. “‘He will do what is just and right in the land.

This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath ¹  into you and you will live.

Then some Pharisees ¹  came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful ²  to divorce a wife for any cause?” ³ 

So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

Your officials are rebels, ¹  they associate with ²  thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for ³  payoffs. ⁴  They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁵  or defend the rights of the widow. ⁶ 

Therefore the Lord says, “I will stand up for your cause. I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ¹  I will dry up their sea. I will make their springs run dry. ² 

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹  to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them!