Add parallel Print Page Options

16 “Have I refused to help the poor,
    or crushed the hopes of widows?
17 Have I been stingy with my food
    and refused to share it with orphans?
18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
    and all my life I have cared for widows.
19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
    and the needy with nothing to wear,
20 did they not praise me
    for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?

21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan,
    knowing the judges would take my side,
22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
    Let my arm be torn from its socket!
23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
    For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?

Read full chapter

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail(A)
17 or have eaten my morsel alone
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—(B)
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan[a] like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[b]
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing
    or a poor person without covering,
20 whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;(C)
21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan
    because I saw I had supporters at the gate;(D)
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.(E)
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.(F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 31.18 Heb him
  2. 31.18 Heb her