Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ² 

Why are wicked people successful? ³ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Genesis 18:25

18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁴  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁵ 

Psalms 98:9

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ⁶ 

and the nations in a just manner.

Acts 17:31

17:31 because he has set ⁷  a day on which he is going to judge the world ⁸  in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, ⁹  having provided proof to everyone by raising ¹⁰  him from the dead.”

¹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

² tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

³ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

⁴ tn Or “ruler.”

⁵ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

⁶ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).

⁷ tn Or “fixed.”

⁸ sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.

⁹ tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”

¹⁰ tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.