44 Bible Verses about oppression

Come now, rich ones, weep and howl for your hardships coming on. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their poison will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh as fire. You heaped treasure in the last days. read more.
Behold, the hire of the laborers reaping your fields cry out, being kept back by you. And the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived luxuriously on the earth, and lived wantonly. You have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

And I have been twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six for your flocks. And you have changed my wages ten times.

The people of the land have used oppression and practiced robbery, and they have troubled the poor and needy. Yea, they have oppressed the stranger without right.

And they made their lives bitter with hard work in mortar and in bricks, and in all kinds of work in the field; all their work in which they made them do was with harshness.

Behold, the hire of the laborers reaping your fields cry out, being kept back by you. And the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead. And you know that your servant feared Jehovah. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold the tears of the oppressed ones, and they had no comforter! And on the side of those who oppressed them there was power, but they had no comforter.

You shall neither vex a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Also you shall not oppress a stranger. For you know the heart of a stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, of your brothers, or of your strangers that are in your land within your gates.

And you shall not oppress one another. But you shall fear your God. For I am Jehovah your God.

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor; nor press down the afflicted in the gate;

And I will come near you to judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those who extort from the hired laborer's wages, and turning away the widow, and the orphan, the alien, and not fearing Me, says Jehovah of Hosts.

Hear this Word, cows of Bashan who are in the mountain of Samaria; who press down the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring in, that we may drink.

But your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your unjust gain, and to shed innocent blood, and for cruelty, and to do violence.

Behold, the hire of the laborers reaping your fields cry out, being kept back by you. And the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

And they covet and seize fields; and houses, and take them away. And they oppress a man and his household, even a man and his inheritance.

For so says the Lord Jehovah, My people went down before into Egypt to stay there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

And now behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me. And I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

And when we cried to Jehovah, the God of our fathers, Jehovah heard our voice and looked on our afflictions and our labor and our oppression.

And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of spoilers who spoiled them. And He sold them into the hand of their enemies all around, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

He who crushes the poor to multiply for himself, and he who gives to the rich, only to come to poverty.

He who presses the poor curses his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy upon the poor.

And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, even because of my haste in me. I have heard the rebuke meant to shame me, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer. read more.
Do you know this from days of old, from the setting of man on earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly is for a moment? Though his honor mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, he shall perish forever like his dung; they who see him shall say, Where is he? He flies away like a dream, and shall not be found, and shall be chased away like a vision of the night. An eye glimpsed him, but will not again; yea, his place shall not see him again. His sons shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore his wealth. His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it lies down with him in the dust. Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue; though he spares it and will not leave it; yea, keeps it still in his mouth; yet his food in his belly shall be turned; the gall of asps is within him. He swallows riches, but vomits it; God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him. He shall not see the rivers, the flowings of the brooks of honey and butter, giving back his gain, and he will not eat. As to the wealth of his trading, even he shall not enjoy it. For he pressed down and forsook the poor; he stole a house, but he had not built it.

A poor man who crushes the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaves no food.

Like a twittering swallow, so I chatter; I mourn as a dove; my eyes look weakly to the heights. O Jehovah, I am pressed down; be surety for me.

Deliver me from the oppression of man; and I will keep Your Commandments.

from the face of the wicked who strip me. Those against my soul, My foes, encircle me.

Why do You hide Your face, and forget our affliction and distress?

AYIN: I have done the just and right thing; leave me not to those who crush me.

But Zion said, Jehovah has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have carved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are forever before Me. read more.
Your sons shall make haste; those destroying you and ruining you shall go out from you. Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather and come to you. As I live, says Jehovah, you shall surely wear them as an ornament, and bind them on as a bride. For your wastes and your deserted places, and your land of ruins, shall even now be too narrow to dwell there, and they who swallowed you up shall be far away. The sons of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; come near to me so that I may dwell. Then you shall say in your heart, Who has borne me these, since I am bereaved, and desolate, turned aside and an exile, and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they? So says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and have set up My banner to the people; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nurses. They shall bow to you, faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Jehovah; by whom they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But so says Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the fearful ones shall escape. For I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your sons. And I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

So all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your enemies, every one of them, shall go into captivity. And they who rob you shall be robbed, and all who strip you I will strip. For I will give health back to you, and will heal you of your wounds, says Jehovah; because they called you an outcast, saying, This is Zion; no one is seeking for her. So says Jehovah: Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and will have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city shall be built on her own hill, and the palace shall remain in its own place. read more.
And out of them shall come thanksgiving, and the voice of those who rejoice. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Also their sons shall be as they were before, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who ill-treat them.

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly; he who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands free from holding bribes, who stops his ear from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high; his refuge shall be the strongholds of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

But a man that is just and does what is just and right, and has not eaten on the mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor has defiled his neighbor's wife, nor has come near a menstruating woman, and has not ill-treated any man, but has given the debtor's pledge back to him, has robbed none by violence, has given his bread to the hungry and has covered the naked with a garment; read more.
he has not given out on usury, nor has taken any increase, he has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has done judgment between man and man, has walked in My statutes, and has kept My judgments to deal truly, he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord Jehovah.

Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts, is His name. He shall thoroughly plead their cause, so that he may give rest to the land, and give trouble to the people of Babylon.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and their blood shall be precious in His sight.

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, I will now arise, says Jehovah. I will set in safety, he pants for it.

He shall judge the poor of the people; He shall save the children of the needy, and shall crush in pieces the cruel one.

Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose help is in Jehovah his God, who made the heavens and earth, the sea and all that is in it; who keeps truth forever; who carries out judgment for the mistreated; who gives food to the hungry. Jehovah lets the prisoners loose;

Jehovah works righteousness and judgment for all who are pressed down.

Jehovah also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed? For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. read more.
Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities.

For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For Jehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected, says your God. For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you. read more.
In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says Jehovah your Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah to Me; for as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn from being angry with you and from rebuking you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall the covenant of My peace be removed, says Jehovah who has mercy on you. Afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones among antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your battlements of ruby, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones. And all your sons shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of your sons. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression; for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

A ruler lacking understanding even adds oppressions; he who hates unjust gain shall prolong his days.

Come, let us deal slyly with them, lest they multiply, and it will be when there comes a war, they join also to our enemies, and fight against us, and get out of the land. And they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built treasure cities for Pharaoh, Pithon and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the sons of Israel. read more.
And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel serve with harshness. And they made their lives bitter with hard work in mortar and in bricks, and in all kinds of work in the field; all their work in which they made them do was with harshness. And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, When you midwife the Hebrew women, and look on the birth stools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him. But if it is a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved alive the male children. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing, and have saved the male children alive? And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. For they are lively, and are delivered before the midwives come in to them. And God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and became very mighty. And it happened, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.

and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father whipped you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your slave woman is in your hand. Do to her as it pleases you. And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

Jehovah also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

And God said, "I will judge the nation to whom they shall be in bondage," and "after these things they will come out and will serve Me in this place."

But you dishonored the poor one. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats?