Jeremiah 5:28
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
The verse describes an alarming condition in the churches, among God's professed people, where iniquities have turned away blessings and sins have withheld good things. Among them are wicked men who lay snares and catch and trap men for gain. They are co-laborers with Satan who degrade those God is seeking to uplift. They fill their houses with deceit and so become great and rich, building themselves up out of the property of those they ruin, living in luxury while the poor they have robbed live in poverty and degradation.
They are waxen fat, they shine, and they prosper while overpassing even the deeds of the wicked. They judge not the cause of the fatherless and do not judge the right of the needy. That failure while prospering is a grievous sin of selfishness, hardness of heart, crime, injustice and false dealing, and a failure to obey the Word of God and to deal justly and mercifully with fellow men.
It belongs with a wonderful and horrible thing in the land: prophets prophesying falsely, priests bearing rule by corrupt means, and a people who love to have it so. For these things God will visit and avenge Himself on such a nation, fulfilling His word to those who will not hear, will not see, and refuse the light He sends them. He will punish even the least act of injustice and overlook no failure to deal justly and mercifully, leaving the question what will be done in the end thereof.