35 Bible Verses about Lawsuits

'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;

and a poor man thou dost not honour in his strife.

'Ye do not do perversity in judgment; thou dost not lift up the face of the poor, nor honour the face of the great; in righteousness thou dost judge thy fellow.

ye do not discern faces in judgment; as the little so the great ye do hear; ye are not afraid of the face of any, for the judgment is God's, and the thing which is too hard for you, ye bring near unto me, and I have heard it;

Rob not the poor because he is poor, And bruise not the afflicted in the gate. For Jehovah pleadeth their cause, And hath spoiled the soul of their spoilers.

'Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness. Thou art not after many to evil, nor dost thou testify concerning a strife, to turn aside after many to cause others to turn aside;

'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour -- a false testimony.

'One witness doth not rise against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin which he sinneth; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, is a thing established. 'When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostasy, then have both the men who have the strife stood before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who are in those days,read more.
and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness is a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother: 'Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst, and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst; and thine eye doth not pity -- life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

These are the things that ye do: Speak ye truth each with his neighbour, Truth and peaceful judgment judge in your gates,

When anything is too hard for thee for judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke -- matters of strife within thy gates -- then thou hast risen, and gone up unto the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix, and hast come in unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge who is in those days, and hast inquired, and they have declared to thee the word of judgment, and thou hast done according to the tenor of the word which they declare to thee (they of that place which Jehovah doth choose; and thou hast observed to do according to all that they direct thee.read more.
'According to the tenor of the law which they direct thee, and according to the judgment which they say to thee thou dost do; thou dost not turn aside from the word which they declare to thee, right or left. And the man who acteth with presumption, so as not to hearken unto the priest (who is standing to serve there Jehovah thy God), or unto the judge, even that man hath died, and thou hast put away the evil thing from Israel, and all the people do hear and fear, and do not presume any more.

'And I take the heads of your tribes, men, wise and known, and I appoint them heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and authorities, for your tribes. And I command your judges at that time, saying, Hearkening between your brethren -- then ye have judged righteousness between a man, and his brother, and his sojourner; ye do not discern faces in judgment; as the little so the great ye do hear; ye are not afraid of the face of any, for the judgment is God's, and the thing which is too hard for you, ye bring near unto me, and I have heard it;read more.
and I command you, at that time, all the things which ye do.

'When there is a strife between men, and they have come nigh unto the judgment, and they have judged, and declared righteous the righteous, and declared wrong the wrong-doer,

when they have a matter, it hath come unto me, and I have judged between a man and his neighbour, and made known the statutes of God, and His laws.'

'And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;

But if a man like myself -- I answer him, We come together into judgment. If there were between us an umpire, He doth place his hand on us both. He doth turn aside from off me his rod, And His terror doth not make me afraid,read more.
I speak, and do not fear Him, But I am not right with myself.

For better that he hath said to thee, 'Come thou up hither,' Than that he humble thee before a noble, Whom thine eyes have seen. Go not forth to strive, haste, turn, What dost thou in its latter end, When thy neighbour causeth thee to blush? Thy cause plead with thy neighbour, And the secret counsel of another reveal not,read more.
Lest the hearer put thee to shame, And thine evil report turn not back.

A wise man is judged by the foolish man, And he hath been angry, And he hath laughed, and there is no rest.

'Be agreeing with thy opponent quickly, while thou art in the way with him, that the opponent may not deliver thee to the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and to prison thou mayest be cast, verily I say to thee, thou mayest not come forth thence till that thou mayest pay the last farthing.

Hearken, my brethren beloved, did not God choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the reign that He promised to those loving Him? and ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats; do they not themselves speak evil of the good name that was called upon you?

Dare any one of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? have ye not known that the saints shall judge the world? and if by you the world is judged, are ye unworthy of the smaller judgments? have ye not known that we shall judge messengers? why not then the things of life?read more.
of the things of life, indeed, then, if ye may have judgment, those despised in the assembly -- these cause ye to sit; unto your shame I speak: so there is not among you one wise man, not even one, who shall be able to discern in the midst of his brethren! but brother with brother doth go to be judged, and this before unbelievers! Already, indeed, then, there is altogether a fault among you, that ye have judgments with one another; wherefore do ye not rather suffer injustice? wherefore be ye not rather defrauded? but ye -- ye do injustice, and ye defraud, and these -- brethren!

Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be Jehovah, God of Hosts, doth pity the remnant of Joseph.

For ceased hath the terrible one, And consumed hath been the scorner, And cut off have been all watching for iniquity, Causing men to sin in word, And for a reprover in the gate lay a snare, And turn aside into emptiness the righteous.

Who are panting for the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And the way of the humble they turn aside, And a man and his father go unto the damsel, So as to pollute My holy name.

Ye who are turning to wormwood judgment, And righteousness to the earth have put down, The maker of Kimah and Kesil, And the turner to morning of death-shade, And day as night He hath made dark, Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And poureth them on the face of the earth, Jehovah is His name; Who is brightening up the spoiled against the strong, And the spoiled against a fortress cometh.read more.
They have hated a reprover in the gate, And a plain speaker they abominate. Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do not drink their wine. For I have known -- many are your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.

They have spoken words, To swear falsehood in making a covenant, And flourished as a poisonous herb hath judgment, on the furrows of a field.

And it cometh to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepareth for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him; and Absalom hath risen early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate, and it cometh to pass, every man who hath a pleading to come unto the king for judgment, that Absalom calleth unto him, and saith, 'Of what city art thou?' and he saith, 'Of one of the tribes of Israel is thy servant.' And Absalom saith unto him, 'See, thy matters are good and straightforward -- and there is none hearkening to thee from the king.'read more.
And Absalom saith, 'Who doth make me a judge in the land, that unto me doth come every man who hath a plea and judgment? -- then I have declared him righteous.'

And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king is on Absalom, and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead, and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.read more.
And the woman of Tekoah speaketh unto the king, and falleth on her face to the earth, and doth obeisance, and saith, 'Save, O king.' And the king saith to her, 'What -- to thee?' and she saith, 'Truly a widow woman am I, and my husband dieth, and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death; and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.' And the king saith unto the woman, 'Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.' And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, 'On me, my lord, O king, is the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne are innocent.' And the king saith, 'He who speaketh aught unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.' And she saith, 'Let, I pray thee, the king remember by Jehovah thy God, that the redeemer of blood add not to destroy, and they destroy not my son;' and he saith, 'Jehovah liveth; if there doth fall of the hair of thy son to the earth.' And the woman saith, 'Let, I pray thee, thy maid-servant speak unto my lord the king a word;' and he saith, 'Speak.' And the woman saith, 'And why hast thou thought thus concerning the people of God? yea, the king is speaking this thing as a guilty one, in that the king hath not brought back his outcast; for we do surely die, and are as water which is running down to the earth, which is not gathered, and God doth not accept a person, and hath devised devices in that the outcast is not outcast by Him. And now that I have come to speak unto the king my lord this word, it is because the people made me afraid, and thy maid-servant saith, Let me speak, I pray thee, unto the king; it may be the king doth do the word of his handmaid, for the king doth hearken to deliver his handmaid out of the paw of the man seeking to destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God, and thy maid-servant saith, Let, I pray thee, the word of my lord the king be for ease; for as a messenger of God so is my lord the king, to understand the good and the evil; and Jehovah thy God is with thee.' And the king answereth and saith unto the woman, 'Do not, I pray thee, hide from me the thing that I am asking thee;' and the woman saith, 'Let, I pray thee, my lord the king speak.' And the king saith, 'Is the hand of Joab with thee in all this?' And the woman answereth and saith, 'Thy soul liveth, my lord, O king, none doth turn to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king hath spoken; for thy servant Joab he commanded me, and he put in the mouth of thy maid-servant all these words; in order to bring round the appearance of the thing hath thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of a messenger of God, to know all that is in the land.'

then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him, and the one woman saith, 'O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house; and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we are together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house.read more.
And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it, and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me -- and thy handmaid is asleep -- and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom; and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.' And the other woman saith, 'Nay, but my son is the living, and thy son the dead;' and this one saith, 'Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.' And they speak before the king. And the king saith, 'This one saith, This is my son, the living, and thy son is the dead; and that one saith, Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.' And the king saith, 'Take for me a sword;' and they bring the sword before the king, and the king saith, 'Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.' And the woman whose son is the living one saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, 'O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;' and this one saith, 'Let it be neither mine or thine -- cut it.' And the king answereth and saith, 'Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she is its mother.'

And it cometh to pass, the king of Israel is passing by on the wall, and a woman hath cried unto him, saying, 'Save, my lord, O king.' And he saith, 'Jehovah doth not save thee -- whence do I save thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-vat?' And the king saith to her, 'What -- to thee?' and she saith, 'This woman said unto me, Give thy son, and we eat him to-day, and my son we eat to-morrow;read more.
and we boil my son and eat him, and I say unto her on the next day, Give thy son, and we eat him; and she hideth her son.'

And Gallio being proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a rush with one accord upon Paul, and brought him unto the tribunal, saying -- 'Against the law this one doth persuade men to worship God;' and Paul being about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, 'If, indeed, then, it was anything unrighteous, or an act of wicked profligacy, O Jews, according to reason I had borne with you,read more.
but if it is a question concerning words and names, and of your law, look ye yourselves to it, for a judge of these things I do not wish to be,' and he drave them from the tribunal;

And the public clerk having quieted the multitude, saith, 'Men, Ephesians, why, who is the man that doth not know that the city of the Ephesians is a devotee of the great goddess Artemis, and of that which fell down from Zeus? these things, then, not being to be gainsaid, it is necessary for you to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 'For ye brought these men, who are neither temple-robbers nor speaking evil of your goddess;read more.
if indeed, therefore, Demetrius and the artificers with him with any one have a matter, court days are held, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another. 'And if ye seek after anything concerning other matters, in the legal assembly it shall be determined; for we are also in peril of being accused of insurrection in regard to this day, there being no occasion by which we shall be able to give an account of this concourse;' and these things having said, he dismissed the assembly.

'Be agreeing with thy opponent quickly, while thou art in the way with him, that the opponent may not deliver thee to the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and to prison thou mayest be cast,

Go not forth to strive, haste, turn, What dost thou in its latter end, When thy neighbour causeth thee to blush?

Dare any one of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?