He will defend ¹  the oppressed among the people; he will deliver ²  the children ³  of the poor and crush the oppressor.

He generously gives ¹  to the needy; his integrity endures. ²  He will be vindicated and honored. ³ 

He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.’ ¹  The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ² 

He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket; ¹  he lies in ambush, waiting to catch ²  the oppressed; he catches the oppressed ³  by pulling in his net. ⁴ 

He will treat the poor fairly, ¹  and make right decisions ²  for the downtrodden of the earth. ³  He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁴  and order the wicked to be executed. ⁵ 

for you live among them. ¹  You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.

It is better to be lowly in spirit ¹  with the afflicted than to share the spoils ²  with the proud.

The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed; ¹  the oppressed are trapped ²  by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up. ³ 

Evil men draw their swords and prepare their bows, to bring down ¹  the oppressed and needy, and to slaughter those who are godly. ² 

I am oppressed and needy! ¹  O God, hurry to me! ²  You are my helper and my deliverer! O Lord, ³  do not delay!

For he never bothered to show kindness; ¹  he harassed the oppressed and needy, and killed the disheartened. ² 

But he ¹  left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing. He gave them fields and vineyards at that time.

The rich are not to increase it, ¹  and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving ²  the offering of the Lord, to make atonement ³  for your lives.

However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord ¹  will surely bless ²  you in the land that he ³  is giving you as an inheritance, ⁴ 

So the Lord sent Nathan ¹  to David. When he came to David, ²  Nathan ³  said, ⁴  “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

All the relatives ¹  of a poor person hate him; ²  how much more do his friends avoid him – he pursues them ³  with words, but they do not respond. ⁴ 

If you see the extortion ¹  of the poor, or the perversion ²  of justice and fairness in the government, ³  do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, ⁴  and there are higher ones over them! ⁵ 

The Lord comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says, ¹  “It is you ²  who have ruined ³  the vineyard! ⁴  You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ⁵ 

to keep the poor from getting fair treatment, and to deprive ¹  the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own, and loot what belongs to orphans. ² 

For you are a protector for the poor, a protector for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm, a shade from the heat. Though the breath of tyrants ¹  is like a winter rainstorm, ²