60 Bible Verses about Oppression, God's Attitude To
Most Relevant Verses
You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.'
Do not exploit a poor person because he is poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will plead their case and will rob those who are robbing them.
You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. Stop oppressing 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. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.
Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, 'Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?' The one who lives uprightly and speaks honestly; the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures and rejects a bribe; the one who does not plot violent crimes and does not seek to harm others --
He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations, to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans. What will you do on judgment day, when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
The one who mocks the poor insults his Creator; whoever rejoices over disaster will not go unpunished.
For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says: "You have rejected this message; you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, and rely on that kind of behavior. So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.
They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you.
This is what the Lord says: "Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.
Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.
Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so. They confiscate the fields they desire, and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited. Therefore the Lord says this: "Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.
Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed! She is full of lies; she is filled with plunder; she has hoarded her spoil!
"But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, rue, and every herb, yet you neglect justice and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others.
who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.
He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.
vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.
Consequently the Lord provides safety for the oppressed; he provides safety in times of trouble.
Lord, you have heard the request of the oppressed; you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. You defend the fatherless and oppressed, so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.
"Because of the violence done to the oppressed, because of the painful cries of the needy, I will spring into action," says the Lord. "I will provide the safety they so desperately desire."
He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy palace.
The Lord who rules over all says, "The people of Israel are oppressed. So too are the people of Judah. All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners. They refuse to set them free. But the one who will rescue them is strong. He is known as the Lord who rules over all. He will strongly champion their cause. As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth, but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia.
So he saves from the sword that comes from their mouth, even the poor from the hand of the powerful.
The Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.
you must say to them, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way.
With all my strength I will say, "O Lord, who can compare to you? You rescue the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them."
They cried out to the Lord in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles.
They cried out to the Lord in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles.
When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, and from the hard labor which you were made to perform, you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: "Look how the oppressor has met his end! Hostility has ceased!
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. Then all humankind will recognize that I am the Lord, your deliverer, your protector, the powerful ruler of Jacob."
I have certainly seen the suffering of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.'
Rise up, Lord! O God, strike him down! Do not forget the oppressed!
The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, because Sisera had nine hundred chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, and he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight with Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Israel suffered greatly. The Israelites cried out for help to the Lord: "We have sinned against you. We abandoned our God and worshiped the Baals."
When they return to you with all their heart and being in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, vindicate them, and forgive your sinful people.
I will pray to God, my high ridge: "Why do you ignore me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?"
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me! For in you I have taken shelter. In the shadow of your wings I take shelter until trouble passes.
Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die!
Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! Vindicate the oppressed and suffering! Rescue the poor and needy! Deliver them from the power of the wicked!
O Lord, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! Rise up, O judge of the earth! Pay back the proud! O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate?read more.
They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you. They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land, and they murder the fatherless. Then they say, "The Lord does not see this; the God of Jacob does not take notice of it."
They cried out with a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?"
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them.
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.
For the music director; a well-written song by the Korahites. As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?" I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, "Where is your God?"
Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, you revive me. You oppose my angry enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison
But as God's servants, we have commended ourselves in every way, with great endurance, in persecutions, in difficulties, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in hunger,
So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.
You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.
Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak, for the legal rights of all the dying. Open your mouth, judge in righteousness, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, 'Here I am.' You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully. You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday.
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 foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land.
"The Lord who rules over all said, 'Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.
But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'read more.
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'
