Isaiah 59:16

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate;

he is shocked that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands;

his desire for justice drives him on.

Jeremiah 5:1

Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment

5:1 The Lord said,

“Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem.

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.

If you can, then I will not punish this city.

Jeremiah 5:4-5

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.

They do not know what their God requires of them.

5:5 I will go to the leaders

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands.

Surely they know what their God requires of them.”

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him.

Ezekiel 22:29-31

22:29 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.

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Micah 7:2-5

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared from the land;

there are no godly men left.

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood;

they hunt their own brother with a net.

7:3 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.

7:4 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.

7:5 Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust a companion!

Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms!