35 Bible Verses about Lawsuits

"You are not to pervert justice for the poor among you in their lawsuits.

You are not to show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

"You are not to be unjust in deciding a case. You are not to show partiality to the poor or honor the great. Instead, decide the case of your neighbor with righteousness."

When you hold a hearing, don't be partial in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.'

Don't rob the poor person because he is poor, and don't crush the helpless in court, for the LORD will plead their case and ruin the lives of those who ruin them.

"You are not to spread a false report, nor are you to join forces with the wicked to be a malicious witness. You are not to follow the majority in doing wrong, and you are not to testify in a lawsuit so as to follow the majority and pervert justice.

"You are not to give false testimony against your neighbor.

""You are not to give false testimony against your neighbor.

"The testimony of one person alone is not to suffice to convict anyone of any iniquity, sin, or guilt. But the matter will stand on the testimony of two or three witnesses. When a malicious witness takes the stand against a man and accuses him, then both must stand with their dispute in the LORD's presence, the priests, and the judges at that time. read more.
The judges will investigate thoroughly. If the false witness lies in testifying against his relative, do to him just as he intended to do to his relative. By doing this you will purge evil from your midst. When others hear of this, they will be afraid and will not do such an evil deed again in your midst. Your eyes must not show pity life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot."

Here's what you must do: tell the truth to your neighbors, administer true and peaceful justice in your courtrooms,

"If a case is too difficult for you to decide with respect to bloodshed, civil claims, assault and battery, or other matters of dispute within your courts, bring it to the place that the LORD your God will choose. Present the case to the Levitical priest or the judge at that time. When you have inquired and they have announced the verdict, carry out the verdict that was declared to you at the place that the LORD will choose. Carefully observe all of their instructions to you read more.
in accordance with what the Law says, and in accordance with the verdict that will be handed to you. You must not deviate from the verdict that they declare to you either to the right or to the left. If a man presumptuously disregards the priest who is serving the LORD your God there or the judge, that person must die so you will purge evil from Israel. Then all the people who hear will be afraid and will not act presumptuously again."

So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. I charged your judges at that time, "When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners. When you hold a hearing, don't be partial in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.' read more.
I charged you at that time that you must do all of these things."

"When there is a conflict between individuals, let them come to court to judge the case, decide who is innocent, and condemn the guilty person.

When they have a dispute, it comes to me and I decide between a person and his neighbor, and make known the statutes of God and his instructions."

"If two men are fighting and they strike a pregnant woman and her children are born prematurely, but there is no harm, he is certainly to be fined as the husband of the woman demands of him, and he will pay as the court decides.

He's not a man like me, so that I can answer him, or that we can enter into litigation with one another. There is not yet a mediator between us, who would set his hand on the two of us, removing his rod from me, and not letting terror of him overwhelm me.read more.
Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him, because I'm not like that inside myself."

for it is better that it be told you, "Come up here," than for you to be placed lower in the presence of an official. What you've seen with your own eyes, don't be in a hurry to argue in court. Otherwise, what will you do later on when your neighbor humiliates you? Instead, take up the matter with your neighbor, and don't betray another person's confidence.read more.
Otherwise, anyone who hears will make you ashamed, and your bad reputation will never leave you.

When a wise man has a dispute with a fool, the fool either rages or laughs without relief.

Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court, or your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you with certainty, you will not get out of there until you pay back the last dollar!"

Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not? But you have humiliated the man who is poor. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? Are not they the ones who blaspheme the noble Name by which you have been called?

When one of you has a complaint against another, does he dare to take the matter before those who are unrighteous and not before the saints? You know that the saints will rule the world, don't you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can't you handle insignificant cases? You know that we will rule angels, not to mention things in this life, don't you? read more.
So if you have cases dealing with this life, why do you appoint as judges people who have no standing in the church? I say this to make you feel ashamed. Has it come to this, that there is not one person among you who is wise enough to settle disagreements between brothers? Instead, one brother goes to court against another brother, and before unbelieving judges, at that! The very fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves is already a defeat for you. Why not rather just accept the wrong? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves practice doing wrong and cheating others, and brothers at that!

Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in court perhaps the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.'"

For the ruthless will vanish, and mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit, who set a trap for someone who is making his defense in court, and push aside the innocent with specious arguments.

moving quickly to rub the face of the needy in the dirt. Corrupting the ways of the humble, a man and his father go to the same woman, deliberately defiling my holy name.

Those of you who are making justice taste bitter, and who have thrown righteousness to the ground: Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth the LORD is his name. It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress.read more.
They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully. "Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won't live and planting fine vineyards from which you won't drink and because I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are numerous as you oppose the righteous, taking bribes as a ransom, and turning away the poor in court

Their word is falsely given as they make their agreements; so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.

Sometime later, Absalom acquired a chariot equipped with horses and recruited 50 men to accompany him. Then he would get up early, stand near the passageway to the palace gate, and when anyone arrived to file a legal complaint for a hearing before the king, Absalom would call to him and ask, "You're from what city?" If he replied, "Your servant is from one of Israel's tribes," Absalom would respond, "Look, your claims are valid and defensible, but nobody will listen to you on behalf of the king. read more.
Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!"

Meanwhile, Zeruiah's son Joab knew that the king's attention was focused on Absalom, so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days. Then go to the king and speak to him like this"" Then Joab told her what to say.read more.
When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, "Help, your majesty!" The king asked her, "What's your problem?" "I've been a widowed woman ever since my husband died," she answered. "Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. Now please pay attention closely! My whole family is attacking your humble servant! They're saying, "Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we'll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we'll kill the heir also!' They're going to extinguish the only light left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!" Then the king replied to the woman, "Go home and I'll issue a special order just for you." But the woman from Tekoa told the king, "Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors' household, and not on my king or his throne!" The king replied, "Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won't be bothering you anymore!" Then she said, "Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don't do any more damage! Otherwise, they'll destroy my son!" So he promised, "As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son's head will fall to the ground!" At this, the woman responded, "Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?" "Say it"" he replied. "Why, then," the woman asked, "are you planning to act just like this against God's people? Based on what your majesty has said, you're acting like one who is guilty himself, because you're not bringing back the one whom you've banished! After all, even though we all die, and we're all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn't take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged. "Now as to why I've come to speak with your majesty the king, it's because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself, "I'll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!' "So your humble servant is saying, "Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the LORD your God remain present with you.'" In reply, the king asked the woman, "Please don't conceal anything about which I'm going to be asking you now." So the woman replied, "Please, your majesty, let the king speak." Then the king asked, "Is Joab behind all of this with you?" "As your soul lives, your majesty, the king," the woman answered, "no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that's going on throughout the earth."

Right about then, two prostitutes approached the king and requested an audience with him. One woman said, "Your majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Three days later, this woman also gave birth. We lived alone there. There was nobody else with us in the house. It was just the two of us. read more.
This woman's son died overnight because she laid on top of him. She got up in the middle of the night, took my son from me while your servant was asleep, and laid him to her breast after laying her dead son next to me. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son, and he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the light of day, he turned out not to be my son whom I had borne!" "Not so," claimed the other woman. "The living child is my son, and the dead one is yours." But the first woman said, "Not so! The dead child is your son and the living one is my son." This is what they testified before the king. The king said, "One of them claims, "This living son is mine, and your son is the dead one' and the other claims "No. Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one.' "Somebody get me a sword." So they brought a sword to the king. "Divide the living child in two!" he ordered. "Give half to the one and half to the other." The woman whose child was still alive cried out to the king, because her heart yearned for her son. "Oh no, your majesty!" she said. "Give her the living child. Please don't kill him." But the other woman said, "Cut him in half! That way, he'll belong to neither one of us." The king announced his decision: "Give the living child to the first woman. Don't kill him. She is his mother."

While the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him. "Help me, your majesty!" she said. He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?" Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?"read more.
She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!"

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge's seat. They said, "This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the Law." Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jewish leaders, "If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews. read more.
But since it is a question about words, names, and your own Law, you will have to take care of that yourselves. I refuse to be a judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the judge's seat.

When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven? Since these things cannot be denied, you must be quiet and not do anything reckless. For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our goddess. read more.
So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there. But if you want anything else, it must be settled in the regular assembly, because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion." After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court, or your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

don't be in a hurry to argue in court. Otherwise, what will you do later on when your neighbor humiliates you?

When one of you has a complaint against another, does he dare to take the matter before those who are unrighteous and not before the saints?