They devise ¹  unjust schemes; they disguise ²  a well-conceived plot. ³  Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ⁴ 

Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹  those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²  As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³  because they have the power to do so.

Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite which he had intended against the Jews. ¹ 

The one who winks his eyes ¹  devises perverse things, and ²  one who compresses his lips ³  brings about ⁴  evil.

Your tongue carries out your destructive plans; ¹  it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver. ² 

who plan ways to harm me. ¹  All day long they stir up conflict. ² 

Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted! Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! ¹  For God is with us! ² 

For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ; ²  no, ³  we were ⁴  eyewitnesses of his ⁵  grandeur. ⁶ 

Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored. ¹ 

She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ¹  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated! May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed! ¹ 

A deceiver’s methods are evil; ¹  he dreams up evil plans ²  to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right. ³ 

Your schemes will bring shame to your house. Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ¹ 

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

Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath – these are all things that I hate,’ says the Lord.”

So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ¹  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ²  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ³  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ⁴ 

He will rouse his strength and enthusiasm ¹  against the king of the south ²  with a large army. The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to prevail because of the plans devised against him.

Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ¹  It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ²  You will no longer ³  walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter. I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ¹  I did not know they were saying, ²  “Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ³  Let’s remove Jeremiah ⁴  from the world of the living so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ⁵ 

In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished. He will distribute loot, spoils, and property to his followers, and he will devise plans against fortified cities, but not for long. ¹