Parallel Verses

A Conservative Version

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness,

New American Standard Bible

Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

King James Version

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

Holman Bible

Woe to those enacting crooked statutes
and writing oppressive laws

International Standard Version

"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed

American Standard Version

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness;

Amplified

Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes,
And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,

Bible in Basic English

Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts:

Darby Translation

Woe unto them that decree iniquitous decrees, and to the writers that prescribe oppression,

Julia Smith Translation

Wo to those decreeing not decrees, and they wrote writings of labor;

King James 2000

Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write misfortune which they have prescribed;

Lexham Expanded Bible

Ah! Those who decree decrees of evil, and writers who have written harm,

Modern King James verseion

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the scribes who write toil;

Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale

Woe be unto you that make unrighteous laws, and devise things, which be too hard for to keep:

NET Bible

Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

New Heart English Bible

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;

The Emphasized Bible

Alas! for them who ordain iniquitous decree, - And, busy writers, who make a business of writing mischief:

Webster

Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

World English Bible

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees;

Youngs Literal Translation

Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity, And writers who have prescribed perverseness.

Interlinear

English(KJV)
Strong's
Root Form
Definition
Usage
Woe
הוי 
Howy 
woe, Ah, Ho, O, Alas
Usage: 50

חקק 
Chaqaq 
Usage: 19

חקק 
Cheqeq 
Usage: 2

and that write
כּתב 
Kathab 
Usage: 223

References

American

Fausets

Hastings

Watsons

Context Readings

Woes On The Wicked

1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness, 2 to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

Cross References

Psalm 94:20-21

Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, which frames mischief by statute?

Isaiah 5:8

Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, till there is no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

Micah 3:1-4

And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?

Habakkuk 2:6

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him who increases that which is not his (how long?) and who loads himself with pledges!

Matthew 23:23

Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t

Luke 11:42-44

But woe to you Pharisees! Because ye tithe mint and rue and every plant, and pass by justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things, and not to neglect those things.

Luke 11:52

Woe to you lawyers! Because ye took away the key of knowledge. Ye did not enter in yourselves, and ye hindered those who were entering in.

Esther 3:10-13

And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

Psalm 58:2

No! In heart ye work wickedness. Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

Isaiah 5:18

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope,

Isaiah 5:20-22

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Jeremiah 22:13

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor's service without wages, and gives him not his hire,

Daniel 6:8-9

Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.

Micah 3:9-11

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.

Micah 6:16

For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels, that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing. And ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

Habakkuk 2:9

Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!

Habakkuk 2:12

Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!

Habakkuk 2:15

Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, who adds thy venom, and also makes him drunken, that thou may look on their nakedness!

Habakkuk 2:19

Woe to him who says to the wood, Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

Matthew 11:21

Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! Because if the mighty works that occurred in you occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 23:13-16

Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye close up the kingdom of the heavens ahead of men. For ye enter not in, nor do ye allow those who are entering to enter in.

Matthew 23:27

Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:29

Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchers of the righteous,

Matthew 26:24

The Son of man indeed goes as it is written about him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! It were good for him if that man had not been born.

Luke 11:46-47

And he said, Woe also to you lawyers! Because ye load men with burdens difficult to bear, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

John 9:22

His parents spoke these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man confessed him as Christ, he should become excommunicated from the synagogue.

John 19:6

When therefore the chief priests and the subordinates saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify, crucify him! Pilate says to them, Ye take ye him and crucify, for I find no cause in him.

Jude 1:11

Woe to them! Because they went in the way of Cain, and rushed to the error of Balaam's reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

1 Kings 21:13

And the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. And the base fellows bore witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and the king. Then they carried him forth o

Isaiah 3:11

Woe to the wicked! [It is] ill [with him], for what his hands have done shall be done to him.

Isaiah 5:11

Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, who tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!

King James Version Public Domain

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.

New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org

American Standard Version Public Domain

NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NetBible

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain