Verse 3

The LORD says,“Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land.

Referenced Verses

  • Jer 21:12 : 12 O royal family descended from David. The LORD says:‘See to it that people each day are judged fairly. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done.
  • Jer 22:17 : 17 But you are always thinking and looking for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means. Your eyes and your heart are set on killing some innocent person and committing fraud and oppression.
  • Ezek 22:7 : 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you.
  • Mic 6:8 : 8 He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD really wants from you: He wants you to carry out justice, to love faithfulness, and to live obediently before your God.
  • Zech 7:9-9 : 9 “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies said,‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the resident foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow citizen.’ 11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.
  • Mal 3:5 : 5 “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the resident foreigner and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
  • Jas 1:27 : 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their adversity and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
  • Joel 3:19 : 19 Egypt will be desolate and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, because of the violence they did to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
  • Mic 3:11 : 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
  • Jer 26:16 : 16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,“This man should not be condemned to die. For he has spoken to us under the authority of the LORD our God.”
  • Exod 22:22 : 22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan.
  • Exod 23:6-9 : 6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance from a false charge– do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked. 8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous. 9 “You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
  • Lev 19:15 : 15 Justice, Love, and Propriety“‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.
  • Deut 10:18 : 18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.
  • Deut 16:18-20 : 18 Provision for Justice You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the LORD your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous. 20 You must pursue justice alone so that you may live and inherit the land the LORD your God is giving you.
  • Deut 19:10-13 : 10 You must not shed innocent blood in your land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 11 However, suppose a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, and then flees to one of these cities. 12 The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger to die. 13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
  • Deut 24:7 : 7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property and sells him, that kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge evil from among you.
  • Deut 25:1 : 1 If controversy arises between people, they should go to court for judgment. When the judges hear the case, they shall exonerate the innocent but condemn the guilty.
  • Deut 27:19 : 19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ Then all the people will say,‘Amen!’
  • 2 Sam 23:3 : 3 The God of Israel spoke, the protector of Israel spoke to me. The one who rules fairly among men, the one who rules in the fear of God,
  • 2 Kgs 24:4 : 4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the LORD was unwilling to forgive them.
  • Job 22:9 : 9 you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
  • Job 24:9 : 9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.
  • Job 29:7-9 : 7 When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square, 8 the young men would see me and step aside, and the old men would get up and remain standing; 9 the chief men refrained from talking and covered their mouths with their hands; 10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. 11 Job’s Benevolence“As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me, and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me, 12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him; 13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; 14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, my just dealing was like a robe and a turban; 15 I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame; 16 I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know; 17 I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
  • Ps 68:5 : 5 He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy dwelling place.
  • Ps 72:2-4 : 2 Then he will judge your people fairly, and your oppressed ones equitably. 3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people, and the hills will announce justice. 4 He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
  • Ps 94:6 : 6 They kill the widow and the resident foreigner, and they murder the fatherless.
  • Ps 94:21 : 21 They conspire against the blameless, and condemn to death the innocent.
  • Prov 6:17 : 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
  • Prov 23:10 : 10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless,
  • Isa 1:15-20 : 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my sight. Stop sinning! 17 Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of the widow! 18 Come, let’s consider your options,” says the LORD.“Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool. 19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, then you will again eat the good crops of the land. 20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” Know for certain that the LORD has spoken.
  • Isa 1:23 : 23 Your officials are rebels, they associate with thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for payoffs. They do not take up the cause of the orphan, or defend the rights of the widow.
  • Jer 5:28 : 28 That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.
  • Jer 7:5-6 : 5 You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. 6 Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.
  • Jer 9:24 : 24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the LORD, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” says the LORD.