He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both {are} abomination to the LORD.

When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not {for} my transgression, nor {for} my sin, O LORD.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Ye have condemned {and} killed the just; {and} he doth not resist you.

And cast {him} out of the city, and stoned {him}: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What {is that} to us? see thou {to that}.

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Her princes in the midst thereof {are} like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, {and} to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? {rage: or, tumultuously assemble} {imagine: Heb. meditate}

And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

And shed innocent blood, {even} the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.

But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. {power: Heb. arm}

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, {that} wickedness {was} there; and the place of righteousness, {that} iniquity {was} there.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

But if ye had known what {this} meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee {for} an inheritance, and {so} blood be upon thee.