58 Bible Verses about Oppression, Nature Of

Because of the spoiling of the poor, Because of the groaning of the needy, Now do I arise, saith Jehovah, I set in safety him who doth breathe for it.

Through the pride of the wicked, Is the poor inflamed, They are caught in devices that they devised.

The weak ye have not strengthened, And the sick one ye have not healed, And the broken ye have not bound up, And the driven away have not brought back, And the lost ye have not sought, And with might ye have ruled them and with rigour.

Rob not the poor because he is poor, And bruise not the afflicted in the gate. For Jehovah pleadeth their cause, And hath spoiled the soul of their spoilers.

'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of thy needy one in his strife;

'When there is with thee any needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy cities, in thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;

The rich over the poor ruleth, And a servant is the borrower to the lender.

Whoso is giving to the poor hath no lack, And whoso is hiding his eyes multiplied curses.

The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment.

Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their selling for silver the righteous, And the needy for a pair of sandals. Who are panting for the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, And the way of the humble they turn aside, And a man and his father go unto the damsel, So as to pollute My holy name.

Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do not drink their wine. For I have known -- many are your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.

Hear this, ye who are swallowing up the needy, To cause to cease the poor of the land,

And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

and ye did dishonour the poor one; do not the rich oppress you and themselves draw you to judgment-seats;

'Any widow or orphan ye do not afflict;

'Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of a fatherless sojourner, nor take in pledge the garment of a widow;

The ass of the fatherless they lead away, They take in pledge the ox of the widow,

If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in him the gate of my court,

Thy people, O Jehovah, they bruise, And Thine inheritance they afflict. Widow and sojourner they slay, And fatherless ones they murder.

Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,

Thy princes are apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them.

Sojourner, fatherless, and widow, ye oppress not, And innocent blood do not shed in this place, And after other gods do not walk, for evil to yourselves,

And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, And against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who fear Me not, said Jehovah of Hosts.

who are devouring the widows' houses, and for a pretence are making long prayers; these shall receive more abundant judgment.'

'And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

and He saith to Abram, 'knowing -- know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,

And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye -- ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

'And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee in your land, thou dost not oppress him; as a native among you is the sojourner to you who is sojourning with you, and thou hast had love to him as to thyself, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt; I am Jehovah your God.

Thou dost not abominate an Edomite, for thy brother he is; thou dost not abominate an Egyptian, for a sojourner thou hast been in his land;

Widow and sojourner they slay, And fatherless ones they murder.

Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place.

'Thou dost not oppress a hireling, poor and needy, of thy brethren or of thy sojourner who is in thy land within thy gates; in his day thou dost give his hire, and the sun doth not go in upon it, for he is poor, and unto it he is lifting up his soul, and he doth not cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee -- sin.

And Abram saith unto Sarai, 'Lo, thine handmaid is in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;' and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.

And they set over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses;

'And now, lo, the cry of the sons of Israel hath come in unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them,

'Thou dost not oppress thy neighbour, nor take plunder; the wages of the hireling doth not remain with thee till morning.

'Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and Thou knowest not.' Lo, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, And all your labours ye exact.

and having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he did defend, and did justice to the oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian;

lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;

the torn I have not brought in unto thee -- I, I repay it -- from my hand thou dost seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night;

And there riseth a new king over Egypt, who hath not known Joseph, and he saith unto his people, 'Lo, the people of the sons of Israel is more numerous and mighty than we; give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up of the land.'read more.
And they set over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses; and as they afflict it, so it multiplieth, and so it breaketh forth, and they are vexed because of the sons of Israel; and the Egyptians cause the sons of Israel to serve with rigour, and make their lives bitter in hard service, in clay, and in brick, and in every kind of service in the field; all their service in which they have served is with rigour. And the king of Egypt speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one is Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah), and saith, 'When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children; if it is a son -- then ye have put him to death; and if it is a daughter -- then she hath lived.' And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads alive; and the king of Egypt calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads alive?' And the midwives say unto Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively; before the midwife cometh in unto them -- they have borne!' And God doth good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are very mighty; and it cometh to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He maketh for them households; and Pharaoh layeth a charge on all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born -- into the River ye do cast him, and every daughter ye do keep alive.'

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'To Egypt My people went down at first to sojourn there, And Asshur -- for nought he hath oppressed it.

As a cage full of fowls, So their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have been great, and are rich. They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless -- and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.

Lest he drink, and forget the decree, And change the judgment of any of the sons of affliction.

To turn aside from judgment the poor, And to take violently away the judgment Of the afflicted of My people, That widows may be their prey, That the fatherless they may spoil.

But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, Who are in the mountain of Samaria, Who are oppressing the poor, Who are bruising the needy, Who are saying to their lords: 'Bring in, and we do drink.'

give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up of the land.'

and speaketh unto them according to the counsel of the lads, saying, 'My father made your yoke heavy, and I -- I add unto it; my father chastised you with whips, and I -- with scorpions.'

And Asa is angry at the seer, and giveth him to the house of torture, for he is in a rage with him for this; and Asa oppresseth some of the people at that time.

A growling lion, and a ranging bear, Is the wicked ruler over a poor people.

'Any widow or orphan ye do not afflict; if thou dost really afflict him, surely if he at all cry unto Me, I certainly hear his cry; and Mine anger hath burned, and I have slain you by the sword, and your wives have been widows, and your sons orphans.

Cursed is he who is turning aside the judgment of fatherless, sojourner, and widow, -- and all the people have said, Amen.

Whoso is shutting his ear from the cry of the poor, He also doth cry, and is not answered.

Ceased hath the golden one. Broken hath Jehovah the staff of the wicked, The sceptre of rulers. He who is smiting peoples in wrath, A smiting without intermission, He who is ruling in anger nations, Pursuing without restraint!

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Cut down her wood, And pour out against Jerusalem a mount, She is the city to be inspected, Wholly -- she is oppression in her midst.

Thus said Jehovah: Do ye judgment and righteousness, And deliver the plundered from the hand of the oppressor, And sojourner, orphan, and widow, ye do not oppress nor wrong, And innocent blood ye do not shed in this place. For, if ye certainly do this thing, Then come in by the gates of this house Have kings sitting for David on his throne, Riding on chariot, and on horses, He, and his servants, and his people. And if ye do not hear these words, By myself I have sworn -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That this house is for a desolation.

And thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their threshing Gilead with sharp-pointed irons,