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Topical Scripture [O2]

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[O2]

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oppress / oppressor / oppression

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As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him. Then the LORD said to Abram: "Know for certain that your descendants shall be aliens in a land not their own, where they shall be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation they must serve, and in the end they will depart with great wealth. You, however, shall join your forefathers in peace; you shall be buried at a contented old age. In the fourth time-span the others shall come back here; the wickedness of the Amorites will not have reached its full measure until then." [GEN 15:12-16]

Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his subjects, "Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing, more so than we ourselves! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country." Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. Thus they had to build for Pharaoh the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses. Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. The Egyptians, then, dreaded the Israelites and reduced them to cruel slavery, making life bitter for them with hard work in mortar and brick and all kinds of field work - the whole cruel fate of slaves. [EX 1:8-14]

Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Here I am." God said, "Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the LORD said, "I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." [Taken from EX 3:1-10]

"You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt." [EX 22:20]

"You shall not oppress an alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt." [EX 23:9]

"When you have come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, and have occupied it and settled in it, you shall take some first fruits of the various products of the soil which you harvest from the land which the LORD, your God, gives you, and putting them in a basket, you shall go to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses for the dwelling place of his name. There you shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, 'Today I acknowledge to the LORD, my God, that I have indeed come into the land which he swore to our fathers he would give us.' The priest shall then receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God. Then you shall declare before the LORD, your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous. When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing hard labor upon us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and he heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders; and bringing us into this country, he gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O LORD, have given me.' And having set them before the LORD, your God, you shall bow down in his presence. Then you and your family, together with the Levite and the aliens who live among you, shall make merry over all these good things which the LORD, your God, has given you." [DEUT 26:1-11]

"But if you do not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and are not careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overwhelm you: May you be cursed in the city, and cursed in the country! ... The LORD will put a curse on you, defeat and frustration in every enterprise you undertake, until you are speedily destroyed and perish for the evil you have done in forsaking me. The LORD will bring a pestilence upon you that will persist until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to occupy. The LORD will strike you with wasting and fever, with scorching, fiery drought, with blight and searing wind, that will plague you until you perish. The sky over your heads will be like bronze and the earth under your feet like iron. For rain the LORD will give your land powdery dust, which will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed... The LORD will strike you with Egyptian boils and with tumors, eczema and the itch, until you cannot be cured. And the LORD will strike you with madness, blindness and panic, so that even at midday you will grope like a blind man in the dark, unable to find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, with no one to come to your aid... Your sons and daughters will be given to a foreign nation while you look on and grieve for them in constant helplessness. A people whom you do not know will consume the fruit of your soil and of all your labor, and you will be oppressed and crushed at all times without surcease, until you are driven mad by what your eyes must look upon. The LORD will strike you with malignant boils of which you cannot be cured, on your knees and legs, and from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head..." [Taken from DEUT 28:15-16,20-24,27-29,32-35]

Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge and save them from the power of their enemies as long as the judge lived; it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries of affliction under their oppressors. But when the judge died, they would relapse and do worse than their fathers, following other gods in service and worship, relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct. [Taken from JUDG 2:18-19]

But the Israelites cried out to the LORD; for with his nine hundred iron chariots he sorely oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. [Taken from JUDG 4:3]

When Israel cried out to the LORD because of Midian, he sent a prophet to the Israelites who said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I led you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the place of slavery. I rescued you from the power of Egypt and of all your other oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you: I, the LORD, am your God; you shall not venerate the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you did not obey me." [JUDG 6:7-10]

The Israelites again offended the LORD, serving the Baals and Ashtaroths, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. Since they had abandoned the LORD and would not serve him, the LORD became angry with Israel and allowed them to fall into the power of (the Philistines and) the Ammonites. For eighteen years they afflicted and oppressed the Israelites in Bashan, and all the Israelites in the Amorite land beyond the Jordan in Gilead. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you; we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals." The LORD answered the Israelites: "Did not the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Midianites oppress you? Yet when you cried out to me, and I saved you from their grasp, you still forsook me and worshiped other gods. Therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them save you now that you are in distress." But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do to us whatever you please. Only save us this day." And they cast out the foreign gods from their midst and served the LORD, so that he grieved over the misery of Israel. [JUDG 10:6-16]

Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah and addressed the Israelites: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'It was I who brought Israel up from Egypt and delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' But today you have rejected your God, who delivers you from all your evils and calamities, by saying to him, 'Not so, but you must appoint a king over us.' Now, therefore, take your stand before the LORD according to tribes and families." So Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Next he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward in clans, and the clan of Matri was chosen, and finally Saul, son of Kish, was chosen. [Taken from 1SAM 10:17-21]

Samuel addressed all Israel: "I have granted your request in every respect," he said. "I have set a king over you and now the king is your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and have sons among you. I have lived with you from my youth to the present day. Here I stand! Answer me in the presence of the LORD and of his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose ass have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whom have I accepted a bribe and overlooked his guilt? I will make restitution to you." They replied, "You have neither cheated us, nor oppressed us, nor accepted anything from anyone." So he said to them, "The LORD is witness against you this day, and his anointed as well, that you have found nothing in my possession." "He is witness," they agreed. [1SAM 12:1-5]

When Jacob and his sons went to Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, your fathers appealed to the LORD, who sent Moses and Aaron to bring them out of Egypt, and he gave them this place to live in. [Taken from 1SAM 12:8]

In the twenty-third year of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, began his seventeen-year reign over Israel in Samaria. He did evil in the LORD'S sight, conducting himself like Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and not renouncing the sin he had caused Israel to commit. The LORD was angry with Israel and for a long time left them in the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and of Ben-hadad, son of Hazael. Then Jehoahaz entreated the LORD, who heard him, since he saw the oppression to which the king of Aram had subjected Israel. So the LORD gave Israel a savior, and the Israelites, freed from the power of Aram, dwelt in their own homes as formerly. Nevertheless, they did not desist from the sins which the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but persisted in them. The sacred pole also remained standing in Samaria. [2KGS 13:1-6]

King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel during the entire reign of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was merciful with Israel and looked on them with compassion because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was unwilling to destroy them or to cast them out from his presence. [2KGS 13:22-23]

He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations - which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac; Which he established for Jacob by statute, for Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, "To you will I give the land of Canaan as your allotted inheritance." When they were few in number, a handful, and strangers there, Wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, He let no one oppress them, and for their sake he rebuked kings [Taken from 1CHRON 16:15-21]

"Therefore, tell my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you might become ruler over my people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. I will make your name great like that of the greatest on the earth. I will assign a place for my people Israel and I will plant them in it to dwell there henceforth undisturbed; nor shall wicked men ever again oppress them, as they did at first, and during all the time when I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that I, the LORD, will build you a house; so that when your days have been completed and you must join your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who will be one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He it is who shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me, and I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from him who preceded you; but I will maintain him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be firmly established forever." [Taken from 1CHRON 17:7-14]

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and did not rely on the LORD, your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and Libyans a vast army, with great numbers of chariots and drivers? And yet, because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your power. The eyes of the LORD roam over the whole earth, to encourage those who are devoted to him wholeheartedly. You have acted foolishly in this matter, for from now on you will have wars." But Asa became angry with the seer and imprisoned him in the stocks, so greatly was he enraged at him over this. Asa also oppressed some of his people at this time. [2CHRON 16:7-10]

At that time King Ahaz sent an appeal for help to the kings of Assyria. The Edomites had returned, attacked Judah, and carried off captives. The Philistines too had raided the cities of the foothills and the Negeb of Judah; they captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its dependencies, Timnah and its dependencies, and Gimzo and its dependencies, and occupied them. For the LORD had brought Judah low because of Ahaz, king of Israel, who let Judah go its own way and proved utterly faithless to the LORD. Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, did indeed come to him, but to oppress him rather than to help him. [2CHRON 28:16-20]

The earlier governors, my predecessors, had laid a heavy burden on the people, taking from them each day forty silver shekels for their food; then too, their men oppressed the people. But I, because I feared God, did not act thus. [Taken from NEH 5:15]

"But they were contemptuous and rebellious: they cast your law behind their backs, they slew your prophets who bore witness against them in order to bring them back to you, and they were guilty of great effronteries. Therefore you delivered them into the power of their enemies, who oppressed them. But in the time of their oppression they would cry out to you, and you would hear them from heaven, and according to your great mercy give them saviors to deliver them from the power of their enemies. As soon as they had relief, they would go back to doing evil in your sight. Then again you abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who crushed them. Then they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven and delivered them according to your mercy, many times over." [Taken from NEH 9:26-28]

The king of Egypt, however, rose up against them, shrewdly forced them to labor at brickmaking, oppressed and enslaved them. But they cried to their God, and he struck the land of Egypt with plagues for which there was no remedy. When the Egyptians expelled them, God dried up the Red Sea before them, and led them along the route to Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. First they drove out all the inhabitants of the desert; then they settled in the land of the Amorites, destroyed all the Heshbonites by main force, crossed the Jordan, and took possession of the whole mountain region. [Taken from JDTH 5:11-15]

"Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your power depend upon stalwart men; but you are the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the supporter of the weak, the protector of the forsaken, the savior of those without hope." [Taken from JDTH 9:11]

Then Uzziah said to her: "Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the chief of our enemies. Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God. May God make this redound to your everlasting honor, rewarding you with blessings, because you risked your life when your people were being oppressed, and you averted our disaster, walking uprightly before our God." And all the people answered, "Amen! Amen!" [JDTH 13:18-20]

So the king and Haman went to the banquet with Queen Esther. Again, on this second day, during the drinking of the wine, the king said to Esther, "Whatever you ask, Queen Esther, shall be granted you. Whatever request you make shall be honored, even for half the kingdom." Queen Esther replied: "If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, I ask that my life be spared, and I beg that you spare the lives of my people. For my people and I have been delivered to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we were to be sold into slavery I would remain silent, but as it is, the enemy will be unable to compensate for the harm done to the king." "Who and where," said King Ahasuerus to Queen Esther, "is the man who has dared to do this?" Esther replied, "The enemy oppressing us is this wicked Haman." At this, Haman was seized with dread of the king and queen. [ESTH 7:1-6]

They despised what their ancestors had regarded as honors, while they highly prized what the Greeks esteemed as glory. Precisely because of this, they found themselves in serious trouble: the very people whose manner of life they emulated, and whom they desired to imitate in everything, became their enemies and oppressors. It is no light matter to flout the laws of God, as the following period will show. [Taken from 2MACC 4:15-17]

Judas Maccabeus and his companions entered the villages, secretly, summoned their kinsmen, and by also enlisting others who remained faithful to Judaism, assembled about six thousand men. They implored the Lord to look kindly upon his people, who were being oppressed on all sides; to have pity on the temple, which was profaned by godless men; to have mercy on the city, which was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground; to hearken to the blood that cried out to him; to remember the criminal slaughter of innocent children and the blasphemies uttered against his name; and to manifest his hatred of evil. Once Maccabeus got his men organized, the Gentiles could not withstand him, for the Lord's wrath had now changed to mercy. [2MACC 8:1-5]

It is thus that you have now become for me; you see a terrifying thing and are afraid. Have I asked you to give me anything, to offer a gift for me from your possessions, Or to deliver me from the enemy, or to redeem me from oppressors? [Taken from JOB 6:21-23]

I loathe my life. I will give myself up to complaint; I will speak from the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God: Do not put me in the wrong! Let me know why you oppose me. Is it a pleasure for you to oppress, to spurn the work of your hands, and smile on the plan of the wicked? [Taken from JOB 10:1-3]

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the inheritance an oppressor receives from the Almighty: Though his children be many, the sword is their destiny. His offspring shall not be filled with bread. His survivors, when they die, shall have no burial, and their widows shall not be mourned. Though he heap up silver like dust and store away mounds of clothing, What he has stored the just man shall wear, and the innocent shall divide the silver. He builds his house as of cobwebs, or like a booth put up by the vine-keeper. He lies down a rich man, one last time; he opens his eyes and nothing remains to him. Terrors rush upon him by day; at night the tempest carries him off. The storm wind seizes him and he disappears; it sweeps him out of his place. [JOB 27:13-21]

In great oppression men cry out; they call for help because of the power of the mighty [Taken from JOB 35:9]

Behold, God rejects the obstinate in heart; he preserves not the life of the wicked. He withholds not the just man's rights, but grants vindication to the oppressed, And with kings upon thrones he sets them, exalted forever. [JOB 36:5-7]

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, stronghold in times of trouble. [PS 9:10]

The LORD is king forever; the nations have vanished from God's land. You listen, LORD, to the needs of the poor; you encourage them and hear their prayers. You win justice for the orphaned and oppressed; no one on earth will cause terror again. [PS 10:16-18]

At dawn may the LORD bestow faithful love that I may sing praise through the night, praise to the God of my life. I say to God, "My rock, why do you forget me? Why must I go about mourning with the enemy oppressing me?" It shatters my bones, when my adversaries reproach me. They say to me daily: "Where is your God?" Why are you downcast, my soul, why do you groan within me? Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God. [PS 42:9-12]

Grant me justice, God; defend me from a faithless people; from the deceitful and unjust rescue me. You, God, are my strength. Why then do you spurn me? Why must I go about mourning, with the enemy oppressing me? Send your light and fidelity, that they may be my guide and bring me to your holy mountain, to the place of your dwelling, That I may come to the altar of God, to God, my joy, my delight. Then I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Why are you downcast, my soul? Why do you groan within me? Wait for God, whom I shall praise again, my savior and my God. [PS 43:1-5]

Lord, check and confuse their scheming. I see violence and strife in the city making rounds on its walls day and night. Within are mischief and evil; treachery is there as well; oppression and fraud never leave its streets. If an enemy had reviled me, that I could bear; If my foe had viewed me with contempt, from that I could hide. But it was you, my other self, my comrade and friend, You, whose company I enjoyed, at whose side I walked in procession in the house of God. [PS 55:10-15]

O God, give your judgment to the king; your justice to the son of kings; That he may govern your people with justice, your oppressed with right judgment, that the mountains may yield their bounty for the people, and the hills great abundance, that he may defend the oppressed among the people, save the poor and crush the oppressor. [PS 72:2-4]

May he rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. May his foes kneel before him, his enemies lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts. May all kings bow before him, all nations serve him. For he rescues the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help. He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. [PS 72:8-13]

Let not the oppressed turn back in shame; may the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, God, defend your cause; remember the constant jeers of the fools. Do not ignore the clamor of your foes, the unceasing uproar of your enemies. [PS 74:21-23]

Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and oppressed. Preserve my life, for I am loyal; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; pity me, Lord; to you I call all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant; to you, Lord, I lift up my soul. [PS 86:1-4]

The LORD does righteous deeds, brings justice to all the oppressed. His ways were revealed to Moses, mighty deeds to the people of Israel. Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in kindness. God does not always rebuke, nurses no lasting anger, Has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our deeds deserve. [PS 103:6-10]

When they were few in number, a handful, and strangers there, Wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another, He let no one oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed, to my prophets do no harm." [PS 105:12-15]

Our ancestors in Egypt did not attend to your wonders. They did not remember your great love; they defied the Most High at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake to make his power known. He roared at the Red Sea and it dried up. He led them through the deep as through a desert. He rescued them from hostile hands, freed them from the power of the enemy. The waters covered their oppressors; not one of them survived. Then they believed his words and sang songs of praise. [PS 106:7-12]

They defiled themselves by their actions, became adulterers by their conduct. So the LORD grew angry with his people, abhorred his own heritage. He handed them over to the nations, and their adversaries ruled them. Their enemies oppressed them, kept them under subjection. Many times did he rescue them, but they kept rebelling and scheming and were brought low by their own guilt. Still God had regard for their affliction when he heard their wailing. For their sake he remembered his covenant and relented in his abundant love, winning for them compassion from all who held them captive. [PS 106:39-46]

But he poured out contempt on princes, made them wander the trackless wastes, where they were diminished and brought low through misery and cruel oppression, while the poor were released from their affliction; their families increased like their flocks. The upright saw this and rejoiced; all wickedness shut its mouth. Whoever is wise will take note of these things, will ponder the merciful deeds of the LORD. [Taken from PS 107:39-43]

Show me compassion that I may live, for your teaching is my delight. Shame the proud for oppressing me unjustly, that I may study your precepts. Let those who fear you turn to me, those who acknowledge your decrees. May I be wholehearted toward your laws, that I may not be put to shame. [PS 119:77-80]

I have fulfilled your just edict; do not abandon me to my oppressors. Guarantee your servant's welfare; do not let the arrogant oppress me. My eyes long to see your salvation and the justice of your promise. Act with kindness toward your servant; teach me your laws. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may know your decrees. It is time for the LORD to act; they have disobeyed your teaching. Truly I love your commands more than the finest gold. Thus I follow all your precepts; every wrong way I hate. [PS 119:121-128]

Wonderful are your decrees; therefore I observe them. The revelation of your words sheds light, gives understanding to the simple. I sigh with open mouth, yearning for your commands. Turn to me and be gracious, your edict for lovers of your name. Steady my feet in accord with your promise; do not let iniquity lead me. Free me from human oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Let your face shine upon your servant; teach me your laws. My eyes shed streams of tears because your teaching is not followed. [PS 119:129-136]

Much have they oppressed me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed. Upon my back the plowers plowed, as they traced their long furrows. But the just LORD cut me free from the ropes of the yoke of the wicked. [PS 129:2-4]

Happy those whose help is Jacob's God, whose hope is in the LORD, their God, The maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free; the LORD gives sight to the blind. The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD protects the stranger, sustains the orphan and the widow, but thwarts the way of the wicked. The LORD shall reign forever, your God, Zion, through all generations! Hallelujah! [PS 146:5-10]

He who oppresses the poor blasphemes his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy glorifies him. [PROV 14:31]

The oppression of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is right. [Taken from PROV 21:7]

He who oppresses the poor to enrich himself will yield up his gains to the rich as sheer loss. [PROV 22:16]

A rich man who oppresses the poor is like a devastating rain that leaves no food. [PROV 28:3]

The less prudent the prince, the more his deeds oppress. He who hates ill-gotten gain prolongs his days. [PROV 28:16]

The poor and the oppressor have a common bond: the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. [PROV 29:13]

Again I considered all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them! [ECCL 4:1]

If you see oppression of the poor, and violation of rights and justice in the realm, do not be shocked by the fact, for the high official has another higher than he watching him and above these are others higher still [Taken from ECCL 5:7]

For oppression can make a fool of a wise man, and a bribe corrupts the heart. [ECCL 7:7]

"Let us oppress the needy just man; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the old man for his hair grown white with time. But let our strength be our norm of justice; for weakness proves itself useless. Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him." These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, And they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls' reward. [WISDOM 2:10-22]

Fearful shall they come, at the counting up of their sins, and their lawless deeds shall convict them to their face. Then shall the just one with great assurance confront his oppressors who set at nought his labors. Seeing this, they shall be shaken with dreadful fear, and amazed at the unlooked-for salvation. They shall say among themselves, rueful and groaning through anguish of spirit: "This is he whom once we held as a laughingstock and as a type for mockery, fools that we were! His life we accounted madness, and his death dishonored. See how he is accounted among the sons of God; how his lot is with the saints! We, then, have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of justice did not shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us. We had our fill of the ways of mischief and of ruin; we journeyed through impassable deserts, but the way of the LORD we knew not. What did our pride avail us? What have wealth and its boastfulness afforded us? All of them passed like a shadow and like a fleeting rumor; Like a ship traversing the heaving water, of which, when it has passed, no trace can be found, no path of its keel in the waves." [Taken from WISDOM 4:20, 5:1-10]

But Wisdom delivered from tribulations those who served her. She, when the just man fled from his brother's anger, guided him in direct ways, showed him the kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things; She prospered him in his labors and made abundant the fruit of his works, Stood by him against the greed of his defrauders, and enriched him; She preserved him from foes, and secured him against ambush, And she gave him the prize for his stern struggle that he might know that devotion to God is mightier than all else. She did not abandon the just man when he was sold, but delivered him from sin. She went down with him into the dungeon, and did not desert him in his bonds, until she brought him the scepter of royalty and authority over his oppressors, showed those who had defamed him false, and gave him eternal glory. The holy people and blameless race - it was she who delivered them from the nation that oppressed them. She entered the soul of the LORD'S servant, and withstood fearsome kings with signs and portents; she gave the holy ones the recompense of their labors, conducted them by a wondrous road, and became a shelter for them by day and a starry flame by night. She took them across the Red Sea and brought them through the deep waters - but their enemies she overwhelmed, and cast them up from the bottom of the depths. Therefore the just despoiled the wicked; and they sang, O LORD, your holy name because Wisdom opened the mouths of the dumb, and gave ready speech to infants. [WISDOM 10:9-21]

For the whole world shone with brilliant light and continued its works without interruption; Over them alone was spread oppressive night, an image of the darkness that next should come upon them; yet they were to themselves more burdensome than the darkness. [Taken from WISDOM 17:20-21]

And the punishments came upon the sinners only after forewarnings from the violence of the thunderbolts. For they justly suffered for their own misdeeds, since indeed they treated their guests with the more grievous hatred. For those others did not receive unfamiliar visitors, but these were enslaving beneficent guests. And not that only; but what punishment was to be theirs since they received strangers unwillingly! Yet these, after welcoming them with festivities, oppressed with awful toils those who now shared with them the same rights. And they were struck with blindness, as those others had been at the portals of the just - when, surrounded by yawning darkness, each sought the entrance of his own gate. For the elements, in variable harmony among themselves, like strings of the harp, produce new melody, while the flow of music steadily persists. And this can be perceived exactly from a review of what took place. [WISDOM 19:13-18]

Give a hearing to the poor man, and return his greeting with courtesy; Deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor; let not justice be repugnant to you. [SIRACH 4:8-9]

No matter the wrong, do no violence to your neighbor, and do not walk the path of arrogance. Odious to the LORD and to men is arrogance, and the sin of oppression they both hate. [Taken from SIRACH 10:6-7]

Mock not the worn cloak and jibe at no man's bitter day: For strange are the works of the LORD, hidden from men his deeds. The oppressed often rise to a throne, and some that none would consider wear a crown. The exalted often fall into utter disgrace; the honored are given into enemy hands. [SIRACH 11:4-6]

For he is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. He is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint; Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall? [SIRACH 35:12-15]

And the people shall oppress one another, yes, every man his neighbor. The child shall be bold toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable. [Taken from ISA 3:5]

Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and who write oppressive decrees, depriving the needy of judgment and robbing my people's poor of their rights [Taken from ISA 10:1-2]

When the LORD has pity on Jacob and again chooses Israel and settles them on their own soil, the aliens will join them and be counted with the house of Jacob. The house of Israel will take them and bring them along to its place, and possess them as male and female slaves on the Lord's soil, making captives of its captors and ruling over its oppressors. On the day the LORD relieves you of sorrow and unrest and the hard service in which you have been enslaved, you will take up this taunt-song against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has reached his end! how the turmoil is stilled! The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the staff of the tyrants that struck the peoples in wrath relentless blows; That beat down the nations in anger, with oppression unchecked. The whole earth rests peacefully, song breaks forth [Taken from ISA 14:1-7]

On that day there shall be an altar to the LORD in the land of Egypt, and a sacred pillar to the LORD near the boundary. It shall be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt, when they cry out to the LORD against their oppressors, and he sends them a savior to defend and deliver them. [Taken from ISA 19:19-20]

You shall exult no more, he says, you who are now oppressed, virgin daughter Sidon. Arise, pass over to the Kittim, even there you shall find no rest. [ISA 23:12]

O LORD, oppressed by your punishment, we cried out in anguish under your chastising. As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so were we in your presence, O LORD. We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; Salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth. But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise; awake and sing, you who lie in the dust. For your dew is a dew of light, and the land of shades gives birth. [ISA 26:16-19]

He who practices virtue and speaks honestly, who spurns what is gained by oppression, brushing his hands free of contact with a bribe, stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed, closing his eyes lest he look on evil - He shall dwell on the heights, his stronghold shall be the rocky fastness, his food and drink in steady supply. [ISA 33:15-16]

Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee. I, it is I who comfort you. Can you then fear mortal man, who is human only, to be looked upon as grass, And forget the LORD, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth? All the day you are in constant dread of the fury of the oppressor; But when he sets himself to destroy, what is there of the oppressor's fury? The oppressed shall soon be released; they shall not die and go down into the pit, nor shall they want for bread. For I am the LORD, your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the LORD of hosts by name. I have put my words into your mouth and shielded you in the shadow of my hand, I, who stretched out the heavens, who laid the foundations of the earth, who say to Zion: You are my people. [ISA 51:11-16]

Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, holy city. No longer shall the uncircumcised or the unclean enter you. Shake off the dust, ascend to the throne, Jerusalem; Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion! For thus says the LORD: You were sold for nothing, and without money you shall be redeemed. Thus says the Lord GOD: To Egypt in the beginning my people went down, to sojourn there; Assyria, too, oppressed them for nought. But now, what am I to do here? says the LORD. My people have been taken away without redress; their rulers make a boast of it, says the LORD; all the day my name is constantly reviled. Therefore on that day my people shall know my renown, that it is I who have foretold it. Here I am! How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, Announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, For they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion. Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD comforts his people, he redeems Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, come forth from there, touch nothing unclean! Out from there! Purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD. Yet not in fearful haste will you come out, nor leave in headlong flight, For the LORD comes before you, and your rear guard is the God of Israel. [ISA 52:1-12]

Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. (But the LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity.) If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; And he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. [Taken from ISA 53:8-12]

Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, My love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the LORD, who has mercy on you. O afflicted one, storm-battered and unconsoled, I lay your pavements in carnelians, and your foundations in sapphires; I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of carbuncles, and all your walls of precious stones. All your sons shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. In justice shall you be established, far from the fear of oppression, where destruction cannot come near you. Should there be any attack, it shall not be of my making; whoever attacks you shall fall before you. Lo, I have created the craftsman who blows on the burning coals and forges weapons as his work; It is I also who have created the destroyer to work havoc. No weapon fashioned against you shall prevail; every tongue you shall prove false that launches an accusation against you. This is the lot of the servants of the LORD, their vindication from me, says the LORD. [ISA 54:10-17]

Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. [ISA 58:5-11]

The glory of Lebanon shall come to you: the cypress, the plane and the pine, to bring beauty to my sanctuary, and glory to the place where I set my feet. The children of your oppressors shall come, bowing low before you; All those who despised you shall fall prostrate at your feet. They shall call you "City of the LORD," "Zion of the Holy One of Israel." Once you were forsaken, hated and unvisited, now I will make you the pride of the ages, a joy to generation after generation. [ISA 60:13-15]

Woe to the city marked for punishment; nought but oppression within her! [Taken from JER 6:6]

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place. Put not your trust in the deceitful words: "This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!" Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land which I gave your fathers long ago and forever. [Taken from JER 7:3-7]

To the royal house of Judah: Hear the word of the LORD, O house of David! Thus says the LORD: Each morning dispense justice, rescue the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor, Lest my fury break out like fire which burns without being quenched, because of the evil of your deeds. Beware! I am against you, Valley-site, Rock of the Plain, says the LORD. You who say, "Who will attack us, who can penetrate our retreats?" I will punish you, says the LORD, as your deeds deserve! I will kindle a fire in its forest that shall devour all its surroundings. [JER 21:11-14]

Thus says the LORD: Do what is right and just. Rescue the victim from the hand of his oppressor. Do not wrong or oppress the resident alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. If you carry out these commands, kings who succeed to the throne of David will continue to enter the gates of this palace, riding in chariots or mounted on horses, with their ministers, and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, I swear by myself, says the LORD: this palace shall become rubble. [JER 22:3-5]

Thus says the LORD: See! I will restore the tents of Jacob, his dwellings I will pity; City shall be rebuilt upon hill, and palace restored as it was. From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men. I will make them not few, but many; they will not be tiny, for I will glorify them. His sons shall be as of old, his assembly before me shall stand firm; I will punish all his oppressors. His leader shall be one of his own, and his rulers shall come from his kin. When I summon him, he shall approach me; how else should one take the deadly risk of approaching me? says the LORD. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. See, the storm of the LORD! His wrath breaks forth in a whirling storm that bursts upon the heads of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not abate until he has done and fulfilled what he has determined in his heart. When the time comes, you will fully understand. [JER 30:18-24]

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Oppressed are the men of Israel, and with them the men of Judah; All their captors hold them fast and refuse to let them go. Strong is their avenger, whose name is LORD of hosts; He will defend their cause with success, and give rest to the earth, but unrest to those who live in Babylon. [Taken from JER 50:33-34]

Judah has fled into exile from oppression and cruel slavery; Yet where she lives among the nations she finds no place to rest: All her persecutors come upon her where she is narrowly confined. [LAM 1:3]

"Fear not, my children; call upon God, who will deliver you from oppression at enemy hands. I have trusted in the Eternal God for your welfare, and joy has come to me from the Holy One because of the mercy that will swiftly reach you from your eternal savior. With mourning and lament I sent you forth, but God will give you back to me with enduring gladness and joy. As Zion's neighbors lately saw you taken captive, so shall they soon see God's salvation come to you, with great glory and the splendor of the Eternal God. My children, bear patiently the anger that has come from God upon you; Your enemies have persecuted you, and you will soon see their destruction and trample upon their necks." [Taken from BARUCH 4:21-25]

"But if he begets a son who is a thief, a murderer, or who does any of these things (though the father does none of them), a son who eats on the mountains, defiles the wife of his neighbor, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not give back a pledge, raises his eyes to idols, does abominable things, lends at interest and exacts usury - this son certainly shall not live. Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely die; his death shall be his own fault. On the other hand, if a man begets a son who, seeing all the sins his father commits, yet fears and does not imitate him; a son who does not eat on the mountains, or raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife; who does not oppress anyone, or exact a pledge, or commit robbery; who gives his food to the hungry and clothes the naked; who holds off from evildoing, accepts no interest or usury, but keeps my ordinances and lives by my statutes - this one shall not die for the sins of his father, but shall surely live." [Taken from EZEK 18:10-17]

See! the princes of Israel, family by family, are in you only for bloodshed. Within you, father and mother are despised; in your midst, they extort from the resident alien; within you, they oppress orphans and widows. What is holy to me you have spurned, and my sabbaths you have desecrated. [Taken from EZEK 22:6-8]

The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they afflict the poor and the needy, and oppress the resident alien without justice. Thus I have searched among them for someone who could build a wall or stand in the breach before me to keep me from destroying the land; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my fury upon them; with my fiery wrath I have consumed them; I have brought down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD. [Taken from EZEK 22:29-31]

The prince shall have a section bordering on both sides of the combined sacred tract and City property, extending westward on the western side and eastward on the eastern side, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions from the western boundary to the eastern boundary of the land. This shall be his property in Israel, so that the princes of Israel will no longer oppress my people, but will leave the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. [Taken from EZEK 45:7-8]

Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and do what is right and just! Stop evicting my people! says the Lord GOD. [Taken from EZEK 45:9]

For, as I watched, that horn made war against the holy ones and was victorious until the Ancient One arrived; judgment was pronounced in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came when the holy ones possessed the kingdom. He answered me thus: "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all the others; It shall devour the whole earth, beat it down, and crush it. The ten horns shall be ten kings rising out of that kingdom; another shall rise up after them, different from those before him, who shall lay low three kings. He shall speak against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High, thinking to change the feast days and the law. They shall be handed over to him for a year, two years, and a half-year. But when the court is convened, and his power is taken away by final and absolute destruction, then the kingship and dominion and majesty of all the kingdoms under the heavens shall be given to the holy people of the Most High, whose kingdom shall be everlasting: all dominions shall serve and obey him." [DAN 7:21-27]

Proclaim this in the castles of Ashdod, in the castles of the land of Egypt: "Gather about the mountain of Samaria, and see the great disorders within her, the oppression in her midst." For they know not how to do what is right, says the LORD, Storing up in their castles what they have extorted and robbed. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: An enemy shall surround the land, and strip you of your strength, and pillage your castles [Taken from AMOS 3:9-11]

Yes, I know how many are your crimes, how grievous your sins: Oppressing the just, accepting bribes, repelling the needy at the gate! Therefore the prudent man is silent at this time, for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph. [AMOS 5:12-15]

Beware, I am raising up against you, O house of Israel, say I, the LORD, the God of hosts, A nation that shall oppress you from Labo of Hamath even to the Wadi Arabah. [AMOS 6:14]

On that day you need not be ashamed of all your deeds, your rebellious actions against me; For then will I remove from your midst the proud braggarts, and you shall no longer exalt yourself on my holy mountain. But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD; the remnant of Israel. They shall do no wrong and speak no lies; Nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue; They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them. Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals. I will remove disaster from among you, so that none may recount your disgrace. Yes, at that time I will deal with all who oppress you; I will save the lame, and assemble the outcasts; I will give them praise and renown in all the earth, when I bring about their restoration. At that time I will bring you home, and at that time I will gather you; For I will give you renown and praise, among all the peoples of the earth, When I bring about your restoration before your very eyes, says the LORD. [ZEPH 3:11-20]

(This word of the LORD came to Zechariah: Thus says the LORD of hosts:) Render true judgment, and show kindness and compassion toward each other. Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor; do not plot evil against one another in your hearts. But they refused to listen; they stubbornly turned their backs and stopped their ears so as not to hear. And they made their hearts diamondhard so as not to hear the teaching and the message that the LORD of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Then the LORD of hosts in his great anger said that, as they had not listened when he called, so he would not listen when they called, but would scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they did not know. Thus the land was left desolate after them with no one traveling to and fro; they made the pleasant land into a desert. [ZECH 7:8-14]

I will encamp by my house as a guard that none may pass to and fro; No oppressor shall pass over them again, for now I have regard for their affliction. [ZECH 9:8]

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." [LK 4:16-21]

"When the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God pledged to Abraham, the people had increased and become very numerous in Egypt, until another king who knew nothing of Joseph came to power (in Egypt). He dealt shrewdly with our people and oppressed (our) ancestors by forcing them to expose their infants, that they might not survive. At this time Moses was born, and he was extremely beautiful. For three months he was nursed in his father's house; but when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated (in) all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds. When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his kinsfolk, the Israelites. When he saw one of them treated unjustly, he defended and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. He assumed (his) kinsfolk would understand that God was offering them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. The next day he appeared to them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, 'Men, you are brothers. Why are you harming one another?' Then the one who was harming his neighbor pushed him aside, saying, 'Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' Moses fled when he heard this and settled as an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. Forty years later, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush." [Taken from ACTS 7:17-30]

Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word (that) he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and (in) Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name." [ACTS 10:34-43]

My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it. For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not kill." Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. [JMS 2:1-13]

There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. In their greed they will exploit you with fabrications, but from of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destruction does not sleep. For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus and handed them over to be kept for judgment; and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, together with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the godless world; and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (to destruction), reducing them to ashes, making them an example for the godless (people) of what is coming; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man oppressed by the licentious conduct of unprincipled people (for day after day that righteous man living among them was tormented in his righteous soul at the lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the devout from trial and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who follow the flesh with its depraved desire and show contempt for lordship. [2PT 2:1-10]

Also try:

persecute / persecutor [P6]

afflict / afflicted / affliction [A1]

iniquity / iniquities / injustice [I1]

wrongdoing / sin [S18a]

merciless [M3a]

worry [W]

despair [D]

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Important Notice: Scripture references and translations may vary. Scripture contained herein may not be comprehensive and may be categorized subjectively. We do not guarantee translation, categorization, referencing, accuracy, or anything else concerning any item herein. Old Testament practices may no longer be binding under the New Covenant but may be included herein for reference purposes. We may change punctuation, wording, capitalization, shorten items, etc. We caution that items herein may be out of context. We recommend reading Scripture in full context in an appropriate Catholic Bible. Consult appropriate, competent Church authorities for assistance in interpreting / applying Scripture. Interpretation and application of Scripture should not be contrary to the perennial, official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Do not take Scripture passages out of context. Do not inflict harm on yourself or others, break laws, take unsuitable/incautious or inappropriate/drastic actions, or take figurative items literally. We are not responsible for any interpretation / misinterpretation, application / misapplication, use / misuse, etc. of Scripture. Use of site is at your own risk and is subject to our terms of use. Click here for important cautionary statement and other important terms/information


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