This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. ¹  You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done.

and say to them, ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, ²  I am against you. ³  I will draw my sword ⁴  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁵ 

Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone ¹  from the south ²  to the north.

Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? ¹  Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ² 

You are too just ¹  to tolerate ²  evil; you are unable to condone ³  wrongdoing. So why do you put up with such treacherous people? ⁴  Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour ⁵  those more righteous than they are? ⁶ 

Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

so that you may be like ¹  your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For I tell you the truth, ¹  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ²  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

When Jesus heard this he said to them, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. ¹  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

because Herod stood in awe of ¹  John and protected him, since he knew that John ²  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ³  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ⁴  and yet ⁵  he liked to listen to John. ⁶ 

I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ¹  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ²  who have no need to repent. ³ 

Which of the prophets did your ancestors ¹  not persecute? ²  They ³  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ⁴  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ⁵ 

They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ¹  a righteous ²  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ³  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ⁴  from you.”

Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ¹  has already chosen ²  you to know his will, to see ³  the Righteous One, ⁴  and to hear a command ⁵  from his mouth,

I have ¹  a hope in God (a hope ²  that ³  these men ⁴  themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁵ 

Although they fully know ¹  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ²  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ³ 

But because of your stubbornness ¹  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ² 

realizing that law ¹  is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on ¹  his appearing.