Bible Verses About Oppression

Yes, the cry of the people of Isra'el has come to me, and I have seen how terribly the Egyptians oppress them.

"You must neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

"You are not to abuse any widow or orphan.

If you do abuse them in any way, and they cry to me, I will certainly heed their cry.

My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword - your own wives will be widows and your own children fatherless.

"If a slave has escaped from his master and taken refuge with you, you are not to hand him back to his master.

Allow him to stay with you, in whichever place suits him best among your settlements; do not mistreat him.

"You are not to exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or a foreigner living in your land in your town.

You are to pay him his wages the day he earns them, before sunset; for he is poor and looks forward to being paid. Otherwise he will cry out against you to ADONAI, and it will be your sin.

So we cried out to ADONAI, the God of our ancestors. ADONAI heard us and saw our misery, toil and oppression;

The anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el; and he handed them over to pillagers, who plundered them, and to their enemies around them; so that they could no longer resist their enemies.

he addressed them according to the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke! My father controlled you with whips, but I will control you with scorpions!"

"This is God's reward for the wicked man, the heritage oppressors receive from Shaddai:

if his sons become many, they go to the sword; and his children never have enough to eat.

Those of his who remain are buried by plague, and their widows do not weep.

Even if he piles up silver like dust and stores away clothing [in mounds] like clay -

he may collect it, but the just will wear it, and the upright divide up the silver.

He builds his house weak as a spider's web, as flimsy as a watchman's shack.

He may lie down rich, but his wealth yields nothing; when he opens his eyes, it isn't there.

Terrors overtake him like a flood; at night a whirlwind steals him away.

The east wind carries him off, and he's gone; it sweeps him far from his place.

Yes, it hurls itself at him, sparing nothing; he does all he can to flee from its power.

[People] clap their hands at him in derision and hiss him out of his home.

ADONAI is a stronghold for the oppressed, a tower of strength in times of trouble.

ADONAI, you have heard what the humble want; you encourage them and listen to them,