Deuteronomy 24:14
New Living Translation
14 “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.
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Malachi 3:5
New Living Translation
5 “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
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Proverbs 22:16
New Living Translation
16 A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor
or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty.
Amos 4:1
New Living Translation
Israel’s Failure to Learn
4 Listen to me, you fat cows[a]
living in Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,
and who are always calling to your husbands,
“Bring us another drink!”
Footnotes
- 4:1 Hebrew you cows of Bashan.
Proverbs 14:31
New Living Translation
31 Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker,
but helping the poor honors him.
Luke 10:7
New Living Translation
7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.
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Amos 8:4
New Living Translation
4 Listen to this, you who rob the poor
and trample down the needy!
Amos 2:7
New Living Translation
7 They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Both father and son sleep with the same woman,
corrupting my holy name.
Ezekiel 22:7
New Living Translation
7 Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.
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Job 31:13-15
New Living Translation
13 “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
when they brought their complaints to me,
14 how could I face God?
What could I say when he questioned me?
15 For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.
Job 24:10-11
New Living Translation
10 The poor must go about naked, without any clothing.
They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving.
11 They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it,
and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.
Deuteronomy 15:12-18
New Living Translation
Release for Hebrew Slaves
12 “If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant[a] and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.
13 “When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.
16 “But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you. 17 In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.
18 “You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 15:12 Or If a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you.
Leviticus 25:35-43
New Living Translation
Redemption of the Poor and Enslaved
35 “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. 36 Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. 37 Remember, do not charge interest on money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39 “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. 40 Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you, and he will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee. 41 At that time he and his children will no longer be obligated to you, and they will return to their clans and go back to the land originally allotted to their ancestors. 42 The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves. 43 Show your fear of God by not treating them harshly.
Read full chapterHoly Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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