Mazmur 58:3

58:3 The wicked turn aside from birth; ¹ 

liars go astray as soon as they are born. ² 

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ³ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ⁴ 

Why are wicked people successful? ⁵ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Yehezkiel 22:29

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. ⁶ 

Habakuk 1:4

1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, ⁷ 

and justice is never carried out. ⁸ 

Indeed, ⁹  the wicked intimidate ¹⁰  the innocent. ¹¹ 

For this reason justice is perverted. ¹² 

[58:3]  ¹ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[58:3]  ² tn Heb “speakers of a lie go astray from the womb.”

[12:1]  ³ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ⁴ 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).

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[22:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”

[1:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “never goes out.”

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:4]  ¹² tn Heb “comes out crooked.”