The Lord works righteousness(A)
    and justice for all the oppressed.(B)

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“Because the poor are plundered(A) and the needy groan,(B)
    I will now arise,(C)” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them(D) from those who malign them.”

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The Lord is a refuge(A) for the oppressed,(B)
    a stronghold in times of trouble.(C)

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12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
    the afflicted who have no one to help.

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31 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,(A)
    but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.(B)

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He upholds(A) the cause of the oppressed(B)
    and gives food to the hungry.(C)
The Lord sets prisoners free,(D)

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14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.(A) 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor(B) and are counting on it.(C) Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.(D)

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But you have dishonored the poor.(A) Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?(B)

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31 For he stands at the right hand(A) of the needy,
    to save their lives from those who would condemn them.

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    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(A)
who eat my people’s flesh,(B)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(C)
who chop(D) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(E)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(F)
At that time he will hide his face(G) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(H)

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Saying 2

22 Do not exploit the poor(A) because they are poor
    and do not crush the needy in court,(B)
23 for the Lord will take up their case(C)
    and will exact life for life.(D)

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Human Plans and God’s Plans

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil(A) on their beds!(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields(C) and seize them,(D)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud(E) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.(F)

Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster(G) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(H)
    for it will be a time of calamity.

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12 In you are people who accept bribes(A) to shed blood; you take interest(B) and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors.(C) And you have forgotten(D) me, declares the Sovereign Lord.(E)

13 “‘I will surely strike my hands(F) together at the unjust gain(G) you have made and at the blood(H) you have shed in your midst.(I) 14 Will your courage endure(J) or your hands(K) be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken,(L) and I will do it.(M)

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In you they have treated father and mother with contempt;(A) in you they have oppressed the foreigner(B) and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.(C)

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May he defend the afflicted(A) among the people
    and save the children of the needy;(B)
    may he crush the oppressor.(C)

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13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:(A)
14 However many his children,(B) their fate is the sword;(C)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.(D)
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.(E)
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust(F)
    and clothes like piles of clay,(G)
17 what he lays up(H) the righteous will wear,(I)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.(J)
18 The house(K) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,(L)
    like a hut(M) made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;(N)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.(O)
20 Terrors(P) overtake him like a flood;(Q)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.(R)
21 The east wind(S) carries him off, and he is gone;(T)
    it sweeps him out of his place.(U)
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy(V)
    as he flees headlong(W) from its power.(X)
23 It claps its hands(Y) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”(Z)

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Warning to Rich Oppressors

Now listen,(A) you rich people,(B) weep and wail(C) because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.(D) Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.(E) Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers(F) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries(G) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.(H) You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves(I) in the day of slaughter.[a](J) You have condemned and murdered(K) the innocent one,(L) who was not opposing you.

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting

if you do not oppress(A) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(B) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(C) to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land(D) I gave your ancestors(E) for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting(F) in deceptive(G) words that are worthless.

“‘Will you steal(H) and murder,(I) commit adultery(J) and perjury,[a](K) burn incense to Baal(L) and follow other gods(M) you have not known, 10 and then come and stand(N) before me in this house,(O) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?(P) 11 Has this house,(Q) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers(R) to you? But I have been watching!(S) declares the Lord.

12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh(T) where I first made a dwelling(U) for my Name,(V) and see what I did(W) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke(X) to you again and again,(Y) but you did not listen;(Z) I called(AA) you, but you did not answer.(AB) 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh(AC) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,(AD) the temple(AE) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence,(AF) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’(AG)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods

“Is not this the kind of fasting(A) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(B)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(C) free
    and break every yoke?(D)
Is it not to share your food with the hungry(E)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(F)
when you see the naked, to clothe(G) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(H)

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you will take up this taunt(A) against the king of Babylon:(B)

How the oppressor(C) has come to an end!
    How his fury[a] has ended!
The Lord has broken the rod(D) of the wicked,(E)
    the scepter(F) of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples(G)
    with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued(H) nations
    with relentless aggression.(I)
All the lands are at rest and at peace;(J)
    they break into singing.(K)
Even the junipers(L) and the cedars of Lebanon
    gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
    no one comes to cut us down.”(M)

The realm of the dead(N) below is all astir
    to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed(O) to greet you—
    all those who were leaders(P) in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
    all those who were kings over the nations.(Q)
10 They will all respond,
    they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
    you have become like us.”(R)
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,(S)
    along with the noise of your harps;(T)
maggots are spread out beneath you
    and worms(U) cover you.(V)

12 How you have fallen(W) from heaven,
    morning star,(X) son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
    you who once laid low the nations!(Y)
13 You said in your heart,
    “I will ascend(Z) to the heavens;
I will raise my throne(AA)
    above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,(AB)
    on the utmost heights(AC) of Mount Zaphon.[b]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;(AD)
    I will make myself like the Most High.”(AE)
15 But you are brought down(AF) to the realm of the dead,(AG)
    to the depths(AH) of the pit.(AI)

16 Those who see you stare at you,
    they ponder your fate:(AJ)
“Is this the man who shook(AK) the earth
    and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,(AL)
    who overthrew(AM) its cities
    and would not let his captives go home?”(AN)

18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
    each in his own tomb.(AO)
19 But you are cast out(AP) of your tomb
    like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,(AQ)
    with those pierced by the sword,(AR)
    those who descend to the stones of the pit.(AS)
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20     you will not join them in burial,(AT)
for you have destroyed your land
    and killed your people.

Let the offspring(AU) of the wicked(AV)
    never be mentioned(AW) again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children(AX)
    for the sins of their ancestors;(AY)
they are not to rise to inherit the land
    and cover the earth with their cities.

22 “I will rise up(AZ) against them,”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will wipe out Babylon’s name(BA) and survivors,
    her offspring and descendants,(BB)
declares the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place for owls(BC)
    and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,(BD)
    declares the Lord Almighty.(BE)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,(BF)

“Surely, as I have planned,(BG) so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.(BH)
25 I will crush the Assyrian(BI) in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke(BJ) will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.(BK)

26 This is the plan(BL) determined for the whole world;
    this is the hand(BM) stretched out over all nations.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed,(BN) and who can thwart him?
    His hand(BO) is stretched out, and who can turn it back?(BP)

A Prophecy Against the Philistines

28 This prophecy(BQ) came in the year(BR) King Ahaz(BS) died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,(BT)
    that the rod that struck you is broken;
from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,(BU)
    its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.(BV)
30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,
    and the needy(BW) will lie down in safety.(BX)
But your root I will destroy by famine;(BY)
    it will slay(BZ) your survivors.(CA)

31 Wail,(CB) you gate!(CC) Howl, you city!
    Melt away, all you Philistines!(CD)
A cloud of smoke comes from the north,(CE)
    and there is not a straggler in its ranks.(CF)
32 What answer shall be given
    to the envoys(CG) of that nation?
“The Lord has established Zion,(CH)
    and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.(CI)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
  2. Isaiah 14:13 Or of the north; Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.

14 But you, God, see the trouble(A) of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(B)
    you are the helper(C) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(D)
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(E)
    the nations(F) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(G)
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(H)
18 defending the fatherless(I) and the oppressed,(J)
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

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Saying 11

10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone(A)
    or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

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