All who came before me were ¹  thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ² 

The ¹  robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. ² 

Which of these three do you think became a neighbor ¹  to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

I will turn my face away from them and they will desecrate my treasured place. ¹  Vandals will enter it and desecrate it. ² 

The company of priests is like a gang of robbers, lying in ambush to pounce on a victim. They commit murder on the road to Shechem; they have done heinous crimes!

But ¹  the tents of robbers are peaceful, and those who provoke God are confident ²  – who carry their god in their hands. ³ 

And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left. ¹ 

For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers ¹  nor blasphemers of our goddess. ² 

And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ ¹  but you are turning it into a den ²  of robbers!” ³ 

saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ ¹  but you have turned it into a den ²  of robbers!” ³ 

Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own ¹  is to be a hideout for robbers? ²  You had better take note! ³  I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.

Jesus replied, ¹  “A man was going down ²  from Jerusalem ³  to Jericho, ⁴  and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat ⁵  him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. ⁶ 

Then he began to teach ¹  them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? ²  But you have turned it into a den ³  of robbers!” ⁴ 

Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹  Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law. ² 

“If thieves came to rob you ¹  during the night, ²  they would steal only as much as they wanted! ³  If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, ⁴  they would leave some behind for the poor! ⁵  But you will be totally destroyed! ⁶ 

I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ¹  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ²  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers,

thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, ¹  and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.

“In those times many will oppose ¹  the king of the south. ²  Those who are violent ³  among your own people will rise up in confirmation of ⁴  the vision, but they will falter.

The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ¹  ‘God, I thank ²  you that I am not like other people: ³  extortionists, ⁴  unrighteous people, ⁵  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ⁶