9. This was accompanied with _injustice_ in all its forms. Thus all the prophets testify against them, _The Lord looked for_ judgment, _but behold_ oppression; _for righteousness, but behold a cry_, (Isaiah v. 7.) _Thou hast taken_ usury _and increase; thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbour by_ extortion――_Behold, I have smitten my hand, at thy_ dishonest gain _which thou hast made_, (Ezekiel xxii. 12, 13.) _The balances of deceit are in Jacob’s hand; he loveth to_ oppress, (Hosea xii. 7.) _Are there not yet the_ scant measure _that is abominable; the wicked_ balances, _and the bag of_ deceitful weights? (Micah vi. 10, 11.) _He that departeth from evil, maketh himself a prey_, (Isaiah lix. 15.) _And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him, that there was no judgment. The wicked devoureth the man, that is more righteous than he. They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag_, (Habakkuk i. 13, 14, 15.) _They covet fields and take them by_ violence, _and houses, and take them away_, (Micah ii. 2.) _They pull off the robe with the garment, from them that pass by securely_, (verse 8.) _They have dealt by oppression with the stranger; they have vexed the fatherless and the widow_, (Ezekiel xxii. 7.) _The people of the land have used_ oppression _and exercised_ robbery; _and have vexed the poor and needy, yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully_, (verse 29.) _Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of_ violence _is in their hands_, (Isaiah lix. 6.) Judgment _is turned away backward, and_ justice _standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter_, (verse 14.) 10. _Truth_ indeed was fallen, as well as justice. _Every mouth_, saith _Isaiah, speaketh folly_, (chapter ix. 17.) _This is a rebellious people_, lying _children_, (chapter xxx. 9.) _Their lips have spoken_ lies _and muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for_ truth; _they trust in vanity and speak lies_, (chapter lix. 3, 4.) This occasioned that caution of _Jeremiah_, _Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity_, (chapter ix. 4, 5.)