Her princes ¹  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ²  within it.

But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ¹  when the sky ²  was shut up three and a half years, and ³  there was a great famine over all the land.

Now in those ¹  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ²  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ³  against the native Hebraic Jews, ⁴  because their widows ⁵  were being overlooked ⁶  in the daily distribution of food. ⁷ 

Pure and undefiled religion before ¹  God the Father ²  is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

She left immediately, ¹  removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.

“You must not afflict ¹  any widow or orphan.

So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men, he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴  every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵  Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

So Peter got up and went with them, and ¹  when he arrived ²  they brought him to the upper room. All ³  the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him ⁴  the tunics ⁵  and other clothing ⁶  Dorcas used to make ⁷  while she was with them.

They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel ¹  or a widow who is a priest’s widow.

The Lord tears down the house of the proud, ¹  but he maintains the boundaries of the widow. ² 

No widow should be put on the list ¹  unless ²  she is at least sixty years old, was the wife of one husband, ³ 

You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. ¹ 

So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ¹  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ² 

He broke down ¹  their strongholds ²  and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

Your officials are rebels, ¹  they associate with ²  thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for ³  payoffs. ⁴  They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁵  or defend the rights of the widow. ⁶ 

For some have already wandered away to follow Satan. ¹ 

If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ¹  or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

So let their children die of starvation. Let them be cut down by the sword. ¹  Let their wives lose their husbands and children. Let the older men die of disease ²  and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

Then David went to his palace ¹  in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. ²  Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. ³  They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.