He who plans to do evil
Will be called a schemer or deviser of evil.

Look out for the dogs [the Judaizers, the legalists], look out for the troublemakers, look out for the false circumcision [those who claim circumcision is necessary for salvation];

Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or any sort of criminal [in response to persecution], or as a troublesome meddler interfering in the affairs of others;

“What profit is the carved image when its maker has formed it?
It is only a cast image, and a teacher of lies.
For its maker trusts in his own creation [as his god]
When he makes speechless idols.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—
A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!
Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?

And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said,

“Blessed (joyful, favored) be Abram by God Most High,
Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth;

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand and sworn an oath to the Lord God Most High, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth,

‘As for the person who turns to mediums [who consult the dead] or to spiritists, to play the prostitute after them, I shall set My face against that person and will cut him off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you continually tremble with fear all day long because of the rage of the oppressor,
As he takes aim to destroy?
And where is the rage of the oppressor?

“For your husband is your Maker,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of the whole earth.

The Portion of Jacob [the true God on whom Israel has a claim] is not like these;
For He is the Designer and Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance [and He will not fail them]—
The Lord of hosts is His name.

O come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and prayer].

For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces [and pagan temples],
And Judah has built many fortified cities;
But I will send a fire upon their cities so that it may consume their palaces and fortresses.

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let Zion’s children rejoice in their King.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.”

He who oppresses the poor taunts and insults his Maker,
But he who is kind and merciful and gracious to the needy honors Him.

Whoever mocks the poor taunts his Maker,
And he who rejoices at [another’s] disaster will not go unpunished.

The rich and poor have a common bond;
The Lord is the Maker of them all.

In that day man will have regard for his Maker,
And his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel [with awe-inspired reverence].

‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?

You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.

You turn things upside down [with your perversity]!
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,

“I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this,

“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.

“God has not observed wickedness in Jacob [for he is forgiven],
Nor has He seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with Israel,
And the shout of their King is among the people.

No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]
They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.

Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who do evil,
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While malice and mischief are in their hearts.

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

Day and night they go around her walls;
Wickedness and mischief are in her midst.

And as for both of these kings, their hearts will be set on doing evil; they will speak lies over the same table, but it will not succeed, for the end is yet to come at the appointed time.

So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria).

“Those who surround me raise their heads;
May the mischief of their own lips come upon them.

A worthless man devises and digs up evil,
And the words on his lips are like a scorching fire.

Whoever digs a pit [for another man’s feet] will fall into it,
And he who rolls a stone [up a hill to do mischief], it will come back on him.

“As I have seen, those who plow wickedness
And those who sow trouble and harm harvest it.

“They conceive mischief and bring forth wickedness,
And their inmost soul prepares deceit and fraud.”

Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin,
And he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies.

His mischief will return on his own head,
And his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt].

His mouth is full of curses and deceit (fraud) and oppression;
Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness [injustice and sin].

They devise evil things in their hearts;
They continually [gather together and] stir up wars.

“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

They will be put to shame and also humiliated, all of them;
They who make idols will go away together in humiliation.