And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice(A) against my adversary.’

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17 Learn to do right;(A) seek justice.(B)
    Defend the oppressed.[a](C)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;(D)
    plead the case of the widow.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:17 Or justice. / Correct the oppressor

For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.(A) For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.(B)

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19 “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner,(A) the fatherless or the widow.”(B)

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

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And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out(A) to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man(B) comes,(C) will he find faith on the earth?”

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28     and have grown fat(A) and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
    they do not seek justice.
They do not promote the case of the fatherless;(B)
    they do not defend the just cause of the poor.(C)

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21 See how the faithful city
    has become a prostitute!(A)
She once was full of justice;
    righteousness(B) used to dwell in her—
    but now murderers!(C)
22 Your silver has become dross,(D)
    your choice wine is diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,(E)
    partners with thieves;(F)
they all love bribes(G)
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.(H)

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13 The one who was dying blessed me;(A)
    I made the widow’s(B) heart sing.

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And you sent widows(A) away empty-handed(B)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.(C)

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The king asked her, “What is troubling you?”

She said, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. I your servant had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in the field, and no one was there to separate them. One struck the other and killed him. Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant; they say, ‘Hand over the one who struck his brother down, so that we may put him to death(A) for the life of his brother whom he killed; then we will get rid of the heir(B) as well.’ They would put out the only burning coal I have left,(C) leaving my husband neither name nor descendant on the face of the earth.”

The king said to the woman, “Go home,(D) and I will issue an order in your behalf.”

But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “Let my lord the king pardon(E) me and my family,(F) and let the king and his throne be without guilt.(G)

10 The king replied, “If anyone says anything to you, bring them to me, and they will not bother you again.”

11 She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger(H) of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”

“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair(I) of your son’s head will fall to the ground.(J)

12 Then the woman said, “Let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.”

“Speak,” he replied.

13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself,(K) for the king has not brought back his banished son?(L) 14 Like water(M) spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die.(N) But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person(O) does not remain banished from him.

15 “And now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps he will grant his servant’s request. 16 Perhaps the king will agree to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who is trying to cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’(P)

17 “And now your servant says, ‘May the word of my lord the king secure my inheritance, for my lord the king is like an angel(Q) of God in discerning(R) good and evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’”

18 Then the king said to the woman, “Don’t keep from me the answer to what I am going to ask you.”

“Let my lord the king speak,” the woman said.

19 The king asked, “Isn’t the hand of Joab(S) with you in all this?”

The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything my lord the king says. Yes, it was your servant Joab who instructed me to do this and who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab did this to change the present situation. My lord has wisdom(T) like that of an angel of God—he knows everything that happens in the land.(U)

21 The king said to Joab, “Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.”

22 Joab fell with his face to the ground to pay him honor, and he blessed the king.(V) Joab said, “Today your servant knows that he has found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, because the king has granted his servant’s request.”

23 Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. 24 But the king said, “He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.” So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.

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