Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.
- BSB Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- NKJV “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates.
- NASB “You shall not exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your strangers who are in your land in your towns.
- NLT “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Employers must not oppress poor and needy hired workers, whether fellow Israelites or foreigners. Justice for the laborer is required regardless of his status.
Overview
Hired servants lived hand-to-mouth and were vulnerable to exploitation, so God forbids any oppression of them, explicitly including the resident foreigner. This reflects the consistent biblical demand that the powerful deal justly with the weak. The New Testament repeats the warning against withholding wages (James 5:4), showing God's enduring care for the worker.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Prov 14:31He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
- Prov 22:16He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
- Job 24:10–11They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
- Amos 4:1Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
- Job 31:13–15If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
- Luke 10:7And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
- Deut 15:12–18And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
- Lev 25:35–43And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
- Amos 2:7That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
- Ezek 22:7In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
- Amos 8:4Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 24:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.