A crooked witness ¹  scorns justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours ²  iniquity.

Thorns and snares ¹  are in the path of the perverse, but the one who guards himself keeps far from them.

When the wicked gain control, ¹  people ²  hide themselves, ³  but when they perish, ⁴  the righteous increase.

A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, ¹  but the person of integrity ²  will live ³  because of his faithfulness. ⁴ 

And when the people ¹  saw it, they all complained, ²  “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ³ 

For such people are false apostles, deceitful ¹  workers, disguising themselves ²  as apostles of Christ.

I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹  I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ²  I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. ³  This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.

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

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. ¹ 

Do not drag me away with evil men, with those who behave wickedly, ¹  who talk so friendly to their neighbors, ²  while they plan to harm them! ³ 

I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ¹  I hate doing evil; ²  I will have no part of it. ³ 

Proud men hide a snare for me; evil men ¹  spread a net by the path; they set traps for me. (Selah)

The Lord protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, ¹  but he opposes the wicked. ² 

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 

I will dry up the waterways and hand the land over to ¹  evil men. I will make the land and everything in it desolate by the hand of foreigners. I, the Lord, have spoken!

The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers. I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood! ¹ 

They turn to Baal; ¹  they are like an unreliable bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because their prayers to Baal ²  have made me angry. So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ³ 

Listen to this, you leaders of the family ¹  of Jacob, you rulers of the nation ²  of Israel! You ³  hate justice and pervert all that is right.

The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ¹  The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ²  and then you will experience confusion. ³