Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ¹  Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

Because of the anxiety that makes me groan, my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

They sat in utter darkness, ¹  bound in painful iron chains, ² 

As for their enemies, ¹  they decreased in number and were beaten down, because of painful distress ²  and suffering.

The righteous has enough food to satisfy his appetite, ¹  but the belly of the wicked lacks food. ² 

“‘But just look at you! ¹  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ²  that will not deliver you. ³ 

ז (Zayin) Remember ¹  my impoverished and homeless condition, ²  which is a bitter poison. ³ 

Panic and pitfall ¹  have come upon us, devastation and destruction. ² 

They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹  Rachel went into labor ²  – and her labor was hard.

and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt ¹  when they eat their holy offerings, ²  for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.

They threw away the foreign gods they owned ¹  and worshiped ²  the Lord. Finally the Lord grew tired of seeing Israel suffer so much. ³ 

“The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust ¹  invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, ²  or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury ¹  will suffer loss.

You have made your people experience hard times; ¹  you have made us drink intoxicating wine. ² 

One person is generous ¹  and yet grows more wealthy, ²  but another withholds more than he should ³  and comes to poverty. ⁴ 

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught, so the people of Israel ¹  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ²  So will their kings and officials, their priests and their prophets.

They have treated father and mother with contempt ¹  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ²  within you.

I will prepare for them a healthy ¹  planting. They will no longer be victims ²  of famine in the land and will no longer bear the insults of the nations.