35 Bible Verses about Lawsuits

Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

Neither shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the lowly, nor honour the person of the great; in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it.

Rob not the poor, because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate; for Jehovah will plead their cause, and despoil the soul of those that despoil them.

Thou shalt not accept a false report; extend not thy hand to the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow the multitude for evil; neither shalt thou answer in a cause, to go after the multitude to pervert judgment.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of an offence; then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days;read more.
and the judges shall make thorough inquiry; and if the witness be a false witness, and he have testified falsely against his brother, then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in thy midst. And thine eye shall not spare: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

These are the things that ye shall do: Speak truth every one with his neighbour; execute truth and the judgment of peace in your gates;

If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose. And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment; and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the word, which they of that place which Jehovah will choose shall declare unto thee; and thou shalt take heed to do according to all that they instruct thee:read more.
according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left. And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and no more act presumptuously.

So I took the chiefs of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them chiefs over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers for your tribes. And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it.read more.
And I commanded you at that time all the things that ye should do.

If there be a controversy between men, and they resort to judgment, and they judge their case; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known to them the statutes of God, and his laws.

And if men strive together, and strike a woman with child, so that she be delivered, and no mischief happen, he shall in any case be fined, according as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and shall give it as the judges estimate.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment. There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid,read more.
Then I will speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

for better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither, than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes see. Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour, but reveal not the secret of another;read more.
lest he that heareth it disgrace thee, and thine evil report turn not away.

If a wise man contendeth with a fool, whether he rage or laugh, he hath no rest.

Make friends with thine adverse party quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him; lest some time the adverse party deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say to thee, Thou shalt in no wise come out thence till thou hast paid the last farthing.

Hear, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen the poor as to the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and do not they drag you before the tribunals? And do not they blaspheme the excellent name which has been called upon you?

Dare any one of you, having a matter against another, prosecute his suit before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not then know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy of the smallest judgments? Do ye not know that we shall judge angels? and not then matters of this life?read more.
If then ye have judgments as to things of this life, set those to judge who are little esteemed in the assembly. I speak to you to put you to shame. Thus there is not a wise person among you, not even one, who shall be able to decide between his brethren! But brother prosecutes his suit with brother, and that before unbelievers. Already indeed then it is altogether a fault in you that ye have suits between yourselves. Why do ye not rather suffer wrong? why are ye not rather defrauded? But ye do wrong, and defraud, and this your brethren.

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

For the terrible one shall come to nought, and the scorner shall be no more, and all that watch for iniquity shall be cut off, that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and pervert the judgment of the righteous by futility.

panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, seek him that made the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name. He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.read more.
They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them. For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the right of the needy in the gate.

They speak mere words, swearing falsely in making a covenant; therefore shall judgment spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the fields.

And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared for himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose early, and stood beside the way of the gate; and it was so, that when any man who had a controversy had to come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said to him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man to hear thee appointed by the king.read more.
And Absalom said, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any controversy and cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

And Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said to her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning garments, I pray, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that hath a long time mourned for the dead; and come to the king, and speak after this manner to him. And Joab put the words into her mouth.read more.
And the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Save, O king! And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead. And thy bondmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other and slew him. And behold, the whole family is risen against thy bondmaid, and they say, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may put him to death, for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also: so they will quench my coal which is left, and will not leave to my husband a name or remnant on the earth. And the king said to the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee. And the woman of Tekoah said to the king, Upon me, my lord, O king, be the iniquity, and upon my father's house; and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whoever speaks to thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember Jehovah thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they cut off my son. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. And the woman said, Let thy bondmaid, I pray thee, speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Speak. And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a thing against God's people? and the king in saying this thing, is as one guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one. For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; and God has not taken away his life, but devises means that the banished one be not expelled from him. And now that I am come to speak of this thing to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid; and thy bondmaid said, I will now speak to the king; perhaps the king will perform the request of his handmaid. For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. And thy bondmaid said, Let the word of my lord the king now be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad; and Jehovah thy God will be with thee. And the king answered and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. And the king said, Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from aught that my lord the king has spoken; for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy bondmaid: in order to turn the appearance of the thing has thy servant Joab done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is in the earth.

Then came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him. And the first woman said, Ah, my lord! I and this woman abode in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; no stranger was with us in the house, only we two were in the house.read more.
And this woman's child died in the night; because she had lain upon it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; and I considered it in the morning, and behold, it was not my son, whom I bore. And the other woman said, No, for the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this one said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king. Then said the king, The one says, This that is living is my son, and thy son is the dead; and the other says, No, for thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spoke the woman whose was the living child to the king, for her bowels yearned over her son, and she said, Ah, my lord! give her the living child, and in no wise put it to death. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine; divide it. And the king answered and said, Give this one the living child, and in no wise put it to death: she is its mother.

And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king! And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.read more.
And we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she has hidden her son.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one consent rose against Paul and led him to the judgment-seat, saying, This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. But as Paul was going to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed it was some wrong or wicked criminality, O Jews, of reason I should have borne with you;read more.
but if it be questions about words, and names, and the law that ye have, see to it yourselves; for I do not intend to be judge of these things. And he drove them from the judgment-seat.

And the townclerk, having quieted the crowd, said, Ephesians, what man is there then who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of Artemis the great, and of the image which fell down from heaven? These things therefore being undeniable, it is necessary that ye should be calm and do nothing headlong. For ye have brought these men, who are neither temple-plunderers, nor speak injuriously of your goddess.read more.
If therefore Demetrius and the artisans who are with him have a matter against any one, the courts are being held, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another. But if ye inquire anything concerning other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly. For also we are in danger to be put in accusation for sedition for this affair of to-day, no cause existing in reference to which we shall be able to give a reason for this concourse. And having said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Make friends with thine adverse party quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him; lest some time the adverse party deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

Dare any one of you, having a matter against another, prosecute his suit before the unjust, and not before the saints?