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Jeremiah 2:20
“ Indeed, long ago you threw off my authority and refused to be subject to me. You said,‘ I will not serve you.’ Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill and under every green tree, like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.
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James 2:5-7
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts?Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to?
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Amos 4:1
Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria! You oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your husbands,“ Bring us more to drink!”
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Luke 18:24
When Jesus noticed this, he said,“ How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
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Acts 4:26-27
The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’“ For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,
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Micah 3:11
Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“ The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
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Ezekiel 22:6-8
“‘ See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood.They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you.You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths!
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Micah 3:1-4
I said,“ Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You ought to know what is just,yet you hate what is good, and love what is evil. You flay my people’s skin and rip the flesh from their bones.You devour my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and crush their bones. You chop them up like flesh in a pot– like meat in a kettle.Someday these sinners will cry to the LORD for help, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, because they have done such wicked deeds.”
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Matthew 19:23-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples,“ I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!Again I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.”The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said,“ Then who can be saved?”Jesus looked at them and replied,“ This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible.”
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Jeremiah 6:13
“ That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit.
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Ezekiel 22:25-29
Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it.Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst.Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit.Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying,‘ This is what the sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.
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Micah 7:3-4
They are determined to be experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen– your appointed time of punishment– is on the way, and then you will experience confusion.
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Zephaniah 3:3-5
Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; they break God’s laws.The just LORD resides within her; he commits no unjust acts. Every morning he reveals his justice. At dawn he appears without fail. Yet the unjust know no shame.
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Psalms 2:2-3
The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the LORD and his anointed king.They say,“ Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!”
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Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the LORD who rules over all.
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Luke 19:14
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying,‘ We do not want this man to be king over us!’