Zechariah 7:10
New King James Version
10 (A)Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
(B)Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
Jeremiah 5:28
New King James Version
28 They have grown (A)fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they [a]surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead (B)the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
(C)Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 5:28 Or pass over or overlook
1 John 3:15
New King James Version
15 (A)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (B)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
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Isaiah 1:23
New King James Version
23 (A)Your princes are rebellious,
And (B)companions of thieves;
(C)Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They (D)do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
Psalm 72:4
New King James Version
4 (A)He will bring justice to the poor of the people;
He will save the children of the needy,
And will [a]break in pieces the oppressor.
Footnotes
- Psalm 72:4 crush
Psalm 21:11
New King James Version
11 For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to (A)perform.
James 5:4
New King James Version
4 Indeed (A)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and (B)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [a]Sabaoth.
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- James 5:4 Lit., in Heb., Hosts
James 1:14-15
New King James Version
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, (A)when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, (B)brings forth death.
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1 Corinthians 6:10
New King James Version
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
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Mark 7:21-23
New King James Version
21 (A)For from within, out of the heart of men, (B)proceed evil thoughts, (C)adulteries, (D)fornications, murders, 22 thefts, (E)covetousness, wickedness, (F)deceit, (G)lewdness, an evil eye, (H)blasphemy, (I)pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
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Matthew 23:13
New King James Version
13 “But (A)woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
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Malachi 3:5
New King James Version
5 And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
(A)Against perjurers,
Against those who (B)exploit wage earners and (C)widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 8:17
New King James Version
17 (A)Let none of you think evil in [a]your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 8:17 Lit. his
Zephaniah 3:1-3
New King James Version
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.
3 (A)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (B)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
Micah 3:1-4
New King James Version
Wicked Rulers and Prophets
3 And I said:
“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you (A)rulers of the house of Israel:
(B)Is it not for you to know justice?
2 You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from [a]My people,
And the flesh from their bones;
3 Who also (C)eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
(D)Like flesh in the caldron.”
4 Then (E)they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not hear them;
He will even hide His face from them at that time,
Because they have been evil in their deeds.
Footnotes
- Micah 3:2 Lit. them
Micah 2:1-3
New King James Version
Woe to Evildoers
2 Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And [a]work out evil on their beds!
At (A)morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They (B)covet fields and take them by violence,
Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, against this (C)family I am devising (D)disaster,
From which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor shall you walk haughtily,
For this is an evil time.
Footnotes
- Micah 2:1 Plan
Amos 5:11-12
New King James Version
11 (A)Therefore, because you [a]tread down the poor
And take grain [b]taxes from him,
Though (B)you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted [c]pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I (C)know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
(D)Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
(E)Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
Amos 4:1
New King James Version
Ezekiel 22:29
New King James Version
29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully (A)oppress the stranger.
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Ezekiel 22:12
New King James Version
12 In you (A)they take bribes to shed blood; (B)you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and (C)have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.
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Ezekiel 22:7
New King James Version
7 In you they have (A)made light of father and mother; in your midst they have (B)oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the [a]fatherless and the widow.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 22:7 Lit. orphan
Jeremiah 22:15-17
New King James Version
15 “Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And do justice and righteousness?
Then (A)it was well with him.
16 He [a]judged the cause of the poor and needy;
Then it was well.
Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.
17 “Yet(B) your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,
For shedding innocent blood,
And practicing oppression and violence.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 22:16 Defended
Jeremiah 18:18
New King James Version
Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, (A)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; (B)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
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Jeremiah 11:19-20
New King James Version
19 But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, (A)and let us cut him off from (B)the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who judge righteously,
(C)Testing the [a]mind and the heart,
Let me see Your (D)vengeance on them,
For to You I have revealed my cause.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 11:20 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
Isaiah 1:16-17
New King James Version
16 “Wash(A) yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
(B)Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke [a]the oppressor;
[b]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 1:17 Some ancient vss. the oppressed
- Isaiah 1:17 Vindicate
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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