Wesley Corpus

Thus all the Prophets testify against them: “The Lord looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” (Isaiah v. 7.) “Thou hast taken usury and increase; thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbour by extortion.--Behold, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made.” (Ezekiel xxii. 12, 13.) “The balances of deceit are in Jacob’s hand; he loveth to oppress.” (Hosea xii. 7.) “Are there not yet the scant measure that is abominable, the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitful weights?” (Micah vi. 10, 11.) “He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it dis pleased him, that there was no judgment.” (Isaiah lix. 15.) “The wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he. They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag.” (Hab. i. 13, 15.) “They covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away.” (Micah ii. 2.) They “pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely.” (Verse 8.) “They have dealt by oppression with the stranger; they have vexed the fatherless and the widow.” (Ezekiel xxii. 7.) “The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: Yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.” (Verse 29.) “Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.” (Isaiah lix. 6.) “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” (Verse 14.) 10. Truth indeed was fallen, as well as justice: “Every mouth,” saith Isaiah, “speaketh folly.” (ix. 17.) “This is a rebellious people, lying children.” (xxx. 9.) Their “lips have spoken lies and muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: They trust in vanity, and speak lies.” (lix. 3, 4.) This occasioned that caution of Jeremiah: “Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.” (ix. 4, 5.) 11.