35 Bible Verses about Lawsuits

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

neither shalt thou honour a poor man in his cause.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, neither pleasing the poor, nor favoring the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but 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 cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither destroy the destitute in judgment: For the LORD will judge their cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Thou shalt not admit a false rumour; put not thine hand with the wicked to be a false witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause hiding behind many to wrest judgment;

Thou shalt not give false testimony against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not give false testimony against thy neighbour.

One witness shall not be valid against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin which he should commit. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. When a false witness rises up against any man to testify rebellion against him, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, who shall be in those days;read more.
and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and, behold, if the witness is a false witness and has testified falsely against his brother, then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear and shall never again commit any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

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

If a matter arises that is too difficult for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then thou shalt arise and go up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days and enquire, and they shall show thee the word of judgment. And thou shalt do according to the word which those of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall show thee.read more.
According to the word of the law which they shall show thee and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left. And the man that will act presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously.

So I took the principals of your tribes, wise men and experts, and made them princes over you, princes over thousands and princes over hundreds and princes over fifties and princes over tens and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but 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 cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.read more.
And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

If there is a controversy between persons and they come unto judgment and they are judged, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.

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

If men strive and hurt a woman with child so that she aborts but without death, he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him, and he shall pay by the judges.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together unto judgment. Neither is there any arbiter between us, that might lay his hand upon us both. Let him take his tormentor away from me, and his terror will not perturb me.read more.
Then I would speak and not fear him, because in this state I am not myself.

for it is better that it be said unto thee, Come up here than that thou should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. Do not go forth hastily to strive lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when thy neighbour has put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself and do not uncover the secret to anotherread more.
lest he that hears it put thee to shame and thine infamy not turn away.

If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he rages or laughs, there is no rest.

Conciliate with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out of there, until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world that they might be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not the rich oppress you with tyranny and draw you with violence to the courts? Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called?

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go unto judgment before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more the things that pertain to this life?read more.
If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set as judges the most humble who are in the congregation . I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brothers? But brother goes to judgment against brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is certainly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather suffer the wrong? why do ye not rather be defrauded? But ye do wrong and defraud and do this to your brothers.

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

For the violent one shall be done away with, and the scorner shall be consumed, and all those that rose early unto iniquity shall be cut off: Those that made men to sin in word; those that laid a snare for him that reproved in the gate, and turned that which is just into vanity.

desiring that there be dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and to twist the way of the humble: and the man and his father have gone in unto the same maid, profaning my holy name:

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off doing righteousness in the earth, look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name; that strengthens the spoiler against the strong, so that the spoiler shall come against the fortress.read more.
They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly. Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat, ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I have known of your many rebellions and your great sins that afflict the just and take a ransom and turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment shall spring up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

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

Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought an astute woman from there and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner and put on mourning apparel and do not anoint thyself with oil, but be as a woman that has mourned for a long time for someone who is dead and come to the king and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.read more.
And when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance and said, Save me, O king. And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, I am a widow woman, and my husband is dead. And thy handmaid had two sons, and the two strove together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one smote the other and slew him. And, behold, the whole family is risen against thy handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew, and we will destroy the heir also. So they shall quench my coal which is left and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. And the king said unto the woman, Go to thy house, and I will give a command concerning thee. And the woman of Tekoa said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me and on my father's house; and the king and his throne be guiltless. And the king said, Whoever speaks against thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. Then she said, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou will not allow the avengers of blood to increase the damage by destroying my son. And he said, As the LORD lives, not one hair of thy son shall fall to the earth. Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. And the woman said, Why then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? For the king speaks this word as one who is guilty in that the king does not bring home again his banished. For it is certain that we die and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does God respect any person; yet he does devise means that his outcasts not be expelled from him. Now, therefore, that I have come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. But thy handmaid said to herself, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the word 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. Then thy handmaid said, Let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and evil; and let the LORD thy God be with thee. Then the king answered and said unto 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 not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, By the life of thy soul, my lord the king, I can not turn to the right hand or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for thy slave Joab, he commanded me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thy handmaid; to bring about this form of speech thy slave Joab has done this thing; but my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know that which is done in the earth.

In that season two women, that were harlots, came unto the king and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell 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; there was no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.read more.
And this woman's child died in the night because she lay on top of him. 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 child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I had given birth to. And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that is alive, and thy son is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. 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 the woman, of whom the living child was, spoke unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it, for she is its mother.

And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried unto him, saying, Save me, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD does not save thee, from where shall I save thee? Out of the threshingfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.read more.
So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him. But she has hid her son.

And when Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one accord against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuades men to honor God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you;read more.
but if it is a question of words and names and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat.

Then the town scribe, appeasing the people, said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that does not know how the city of the Ephesians is honored of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought here these men, who are neither guilty of sacrilege, nor blasphemers of your goddess.read more.
Therefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another. But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger of being accused of sedition for this day's uproar, there being no cause by which we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

Conciliate with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Do not go forth hastily to strive lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof when thy neighbour has put thee to shame.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go unto judgment before the unjust, and not before the saints?