The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.
– Proverbs 21:7
[T]he word for robbery means violence, or destruction. It refers to the various schemes by which they oppress, extort, and steal from others (Proverbs 1:11-14). The word for judgment means a verdict, or sentence. It can be used in a legal sense to refer to the work of a judge or magistrate. We find just such a usage in Ecclesiastes 12:14. In a more general way, the word can refer to a person’s rights, i.e., property ownership, civil and criminal redress, due process of law, etc. By doing violence to a person, you are disregarding their rights and violating their just claims. The proverb means that those who do such violence and refuse justice will be destroyed. Wisdom teaches they shall be ensnared by their own ways (Proverbs 1:18-19; 10:6; 22:22-23).