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 

And now indeed ¹  the cry ²  of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them. ³ 

because of what the enemy says, ¹  and because of how the wicked ²  pressure me, ³  for they hurl trouble ⁴  down upon me ⁵  and angrily attack me.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ¹ 

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ¹  declares the sovereign Lord.

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.

He was led away after an unjust trial ¹  – but who even cared? ²  Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; ³  because of the rebellion of his own ⁴  people he was wounded.

I have certainly seen the suffering ¹  of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. ²  Now ³  come, I will send you to Egypt.’ ⁴ 

“People ¹  cry out because of the excess of oppression; ²  they cry out for help because of the power ³  of the mighty. ⁴ 

choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.

Indeed ¹  Israel ²  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people ³  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁴  He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁵ 

So ¹  I again considered ²  all the oppression ³  that continually occurs ⁴  on earth. ⁵  This is what I saw: ⁶  The oppressed ⁷  were in tears, ⁸  but no one was comforting them; no one delivers ⁹  them from the power of their oppressors.

“Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹  because of the painful cries ²  of the needy, I will spring into action,” ³  says the Lord. “I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ⁴ 

You must not rule over him harshly, ¹  but you must fear your God.

and led Israel out from their midst, for his loyal love endures,

for their hearts contemplate violence, and their lips speak harm. ¹ 

Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, ¹  those who are always instituting unfair regulations, ² 

You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; pronounce judgment on my behalf! ¹ 

when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, ¹  then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, ²  or the lost thing that he had found,

As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.