Psalm 103:6
English Standard Version
6 The Lord works (A)righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
Psalm 12:5
English Standard Version
5 “Because (A)the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
(B)I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the (C)safety for which he longs.”
Psalm 9:9
English Standard Version
Psalm 72:12
English Standard Version
12 For he delivers (A)the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
Proverbs 14:31
English Standard Version
31 Whoever oppresses a poor man (A)insults his (B)Maker,
(C)but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Psalm 146:7
English Standard Version
(C)The Lord sets the prisoners free;
Deuteronomy 24:14-15
English Standard Version
14 “You shall not (A)oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 (B)You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), (C)lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
Read full chapter
James 2:6
English Standard Version
6 But you (A)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who (B)drag you (C)into court?
Read full chapter
Psalm 109:31
English Standard Version
31 For he stands (A)at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Micah 3:2-4
English Standard Version
2 you (A)who hate the good and love the evil,
(B)who tear the skin from off my people[a]
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 (C)who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 (D)Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
(E)he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
Footnotes
- Micah 3:2 Hebrew from off them
Proverbs 22:22-23
English Standard Version
22 (A)Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or (B)crush the afflicted at (C)the gate,
23 for (D)the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
Micah 2:1-3
English Standard Version
Woe to the Oppressors
2 (A)Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil (B)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and (C)seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against (D)this family I am devising disaster,[a]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you (E)shall not walk haughtily,
(F)for it will be a time of disaster.
Footnotes
- Micah 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context
Ezekiel 22:12-14
English Standard Version
12 In you (A)they take bribes to shed blood; (B)you take interest and profit[a] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but (C)me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
13 “Behold, (D)I strike my hand at (E)the dishonest gain that you have made, and at (F)the blood that has been in your midst. 14 (G)Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? (H)I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 22:12 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor (compare Leviticus 25:36)
Ezekiel 22:7
English Standard Version
7 Father and mother (A)are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner (B)suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow (C)are wronged in you.
Read full chapter
Psalm 72:4
English Standard Version
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
Job 27:13-23
English Standard Version
13 (A)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
and the heritage that (B)oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 If his (C)children are multiplied, it is for (D)the sword,
and his descendants have not enough bread.
15 Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
and his (E)widows do not weep.
16 Though he (F)heap up silver like dust,
and pile up clothing like clay,
17 he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and (G)the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his (H)house like a moth's,
like (I)a booth that (J)a watchman makes.
19 He goes to bed rich, but will (K)do so no more;
he opens his eyes, and (L)his wealth is gone.
20 (M)Terrors overtake him like (N)a flood;
in the night a whirlwind (O)carries him off.
21 (P)The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
it (Q)sweeps him out of his place.
22 It[a] hurls at him (R)without pity;
he flees from its[b] power in headlong flight.
23 It (S)claps its hands at him
and (T)hisses at him from its place.
James 5:1-6
English Standard Version
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, (A)you rich, weep and howl for the (B)miseries that are coming upon you. 2 (C)Your riches have rotted and (D)your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. (E)You have laid up treasure (F)in the last days. 4 Behold, (G)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and (H)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of (I)the Lord of hosts. 5 (J)You have lived on the earth in luxury and (K)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in (L)a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and (M)murdered (N)the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Read full chapter
Jeremiah 7:6-15
English Standard Version
6 if you (A)do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, (B)or shed innocent blood in this place, (C)and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 (D)then I will let you dwell in this place, (E)in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 (F)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, (G)swear falsely, (H)make offerings to Baal, (I)and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, (J)which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 (K)Has this house, (L)which is called by my name, (M)become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to (N)my place that was in Shiloh, (O)where I made my name dwell at first, and (P)see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and (Q)when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and (R)when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to (S)the house (T)that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, (U)as I did to Shiloh. 15 (V)And I will cast you out of my sight, (W)as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of (X)Ephraim.
Read full chapter
Isaiah 58:6-7
English Standard Version
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
(A)to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps (B)of the yoke,
to let the oppressed[a] go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not (C)to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
(D)and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:6 Or bruised
Isaiah 14:4-32
English Standard Version
4 you will take up this (A)taunt against the king of Babylon:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
(B)the insolent fury[a] ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the (C)staff of the wicked,
the (D)scepter of rulers,
6 (E)that struck the peoples in wrath
with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
(F)they break forth into singing.
8 (G)(H)The cypresses rejoice at you,
(I)the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
all who were kings of the nations.
10 (J)All of them will answer
and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
and worms are your covers.
12 “How (K)you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, (L)son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
(M)‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
(N)I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;[b]
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 (O)But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
and ponder over you:
‘Is this (P)the man who made the earth tremble,
who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
and overthrew its cities,
(Q)who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
each in his own tomb;[c]
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
(R)clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
because you have destroyed your land,
you have slain your people.
“May (S)the offspring of evildoers
nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
(T)because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
and fill the face of the world with cities.”
22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and (U)remnant, (V)descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the (W)hedgehog,[d] and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.
An Oracle Concerning Assyria
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
(X)“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
25 that (Y)I will break the Assyrian in my land,
and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and (Z)his yoke shall depart from them,
and (AA)his burden from their shoulder.”
26 This is the purpose that is purposed
concerning the whole earth,
and this is (AB)the hand that is stretched out
over all the nations.
27 (AC)For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
(AD)His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?
An Oracle Concerning Philistia
28 In the year that (AE)King Ahaz died came this (AF)oracle:
29 Rejoice not, (AG)O Philistia, all of you,
that (AH)the rod that struck you is broken,
for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,
and its fruit will be a (AI)flying fiery serpent.
30 And the firstborn of (AJ)the poor will graze,
and (AK)the needy lie down in safety;
but I will kill your root with famine,
and your remnant it will slay.
31 (AL)Wail, O (AM)gate; cry out, O city;
melt in fear, (AN)O Philistia, all of you!
(AO)For smoke comes out of the north,
and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
(AP)“The Lord has founded Zion,
and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain
- Isaiah 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon
- Isaiah 14:18 Hebrew house
- Isaiah 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl
Psalm 10:14-18
English Standard Version
14 But you do see, for you (A)note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless (B)commits himself;
you have been (C)the helper of the fatherless.
15 (D)Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
(E)call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 (F)The Lord is king forever and ever;
the (G)nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will (H)strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to (I)do justice to the fatherless and (J)the oppressed,
so that (K)man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Proverbs 23:10
English Standard Version
10 (A)Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Bible Gateway Recommends
