What other scriptures warn against oppressing the poor and needy? Ezekiel 22:29 Key Verse - Ezekiel 22:29: “The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.” Warnings in the Law of Moses - Exodus 22:21-24: “You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them and they cry out to Me, I will surely hear their cry. My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.” - Leviticus 19:9-10: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. You are to leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am the LORD your God.” - Leviticus 19:15: “You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” - Deuteronomy 15:7-11: “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you must not harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs… Give generously to him… For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; therefore I command you: You must open your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.” - Deuteronomy 24:14-15: “Do not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or a foreigner residing within your land and in your towns. You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them; otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.” Warnings in Wisdom Literature - Proverbs 14:31: “Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.” - Proverbs 22:22-23: “Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate; for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.” - Proverbs 28:27: “Whoever gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.” Warnings from the Prophets - Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do right; seek justice, correct the oppressor; defend the fatherless and plead the widow’s case.” - Isaiah 10:1-2: “Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of justice and strip the needy among My people of their rights, making widows their prey and orphans their plunder.” - Jeremiah 22:3: “This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue the victim from the hand of his oppressor. Do not wrong or do violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” - Amos 5:11-12: “Therefore, because you trample on the poor and levy a tax of grain against them, though you have built houses of hewn stone, you will not live in them… You oppress the righteous, accepting bribes and depriving the poor of justice at the gate.” - Zechariah 7:9-10: “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor…’ ” - Malachi 3:5: “‘Then I will draw near to you for judgment… against those who oppress the wage earner, the widow, and the fatherless, and those who defraud the foreigner and do not fear Me,’ says the LORD of Hosts.” Warnings in the Gospels - Matthew 25:40: “And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ ” - Matthew 25:45: “Then He will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ ” - Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor… to set the oppressed free.” - Luke 6:20: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” - Luke 6:24: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.” Warnings in the Epistles - James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - James 2:5-6: “Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith…? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?” - James 5:1-4: “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you… Look, the wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.” - 1 John 3:17: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no compassion on him, how can the love of God be in him?” |
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