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“People cry out when they are oppressed.
    They groan beneath the power of the mighty.

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23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.

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28 They cause the poor to cry out, catching God’s attention.
    He hears the cries of the needy.

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A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

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Psalm 56

For the choir director: A psalm[a] of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune “Dove on Distant Oaks.”

O God, have mercy on me,
    for people are hounding me.
    My foes attack me all day long.
I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,
    and many are boldly attacking me.

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Footnotes

  1. 56:Title Hebrew miktam. This may be a literary or musical term.

Please listen and answer me,
    for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
My enemies shout at me,
    making loud and wicked threats.
They bring trouble on me
    and angrily hunt me down.

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For you are God, my only safe haven.
    Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in grief,
    oppressed by my enemies?

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The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
    and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
    as they have longed for me to do.”

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15 Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!
    Go after them until the last one is destroyed.

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Are you as strong as God?
    Can you thunder with a voice like his?

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12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the wounded cry for help,
    yet God ignores their moaning.

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19 He leads priests away, stripped of status;
    he overthrows those with long years in power.

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Nehemiah Defends the Oppressed

About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.”

Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.”

And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”

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Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.

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Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.

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