Justice & mercy

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

Justice

General scriptures concerning

• Exodus 23:1–3 “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness. You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
• Exodus 23:6–8 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
• Leviticus 19:13–15 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor…
• Deuteronomy 16:18–20 You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righte…
• Deuteronomy 25:1–4 If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned. If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. He may rec…
• Ezra 7:26 If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a strict judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
• Psalm 72:1–2 Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness. May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
• Psalm 82:2–4 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.
• Proverbs 17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous— both are detestable to the LORD.
• Proverbs 17:26 It is surely not good to punish the innocent or to flog a noble for his honesty.

See Courts

See Judges

See Witness

See Lawyers

Mercy

General scriptures concerning

• 2 Samuel 22:26 To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
• Psalm 18:25 To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
• Psalm 37:25–26 I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread. They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.
• Psalm 85:10 Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.
• Proverbs 3:3–4 Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.
• Proverbs 11:17 A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.
• Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
• Proverbs 14:21–22 He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who shows kindness to the poor. Do not those who contrive evil go astray? But those who plan goodness find loving devotion and faithfulness.
• Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
• Proverbs 20:28 Loving devotion and faithfulness preserve a king; by these he maintains his throne.

See GOD, MERCY OF

See Kindness

Instances of

The prison keeper, to Joseph

• Genesis 39:21–23 the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, be…

Joshua to Rahab

• Joshua 6:25 And Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father’s household and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho. So she has lived among the Israelites to this day.

The Israelites to the man of Beth-el

• Judges 1:23–26 They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz), and when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us how to get into the city, and we will treat you kindly.” So the man showed them the entrance to the city, and they put the city to the sword but released that ma…

David to Saul

• 1 Samuel 24:10–13 Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cu…
• 1 Samuel 24:17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.