Parallel Verses

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

A Conservative Version

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

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

Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?

Isaiah 5:8

Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.

Micah 3:1-4

And I said: Hear, you 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 their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own-- for how long?-- and loads himself with pledges!"

Luke 11:42-44

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Luke 11:52

Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

Esther 3:10-13

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

Psalm 58:2

No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.

Isaiah 5:18

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,

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 upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,

Daniel 6:8-9

Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."

Micah 3:9-11

Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,

Micah 6:16

For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people."

Habakkuk 2:9

"Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm!

Habakkuk 2:12

"Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!

Habakkuk 2:15

"Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink-- you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!

Habakkuk 2:19

Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.

Matthew 11:21

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 26:24

The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

Luke 11:46-47

And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

John 9:22

(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

John 19:6

When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him."

Jude 1:11

Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.

1 Kings 21:13

And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.

Isaiah 3:11

Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Isaiah 5:11

Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames 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

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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