When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
- KJV And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
- ESV “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
- NKJV ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.
- NASB ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
- NLT “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Israel must not wrong the foreigner living among them. God requires just and compassionate treatment of outsiders.
Overview
The resident alien was vulnerable, lacking the protections of tribe and land. God commands that they not be oppressed, extending covenant ethics beyond ethnic Israel. This care for the sojourner reflects God's own heart for the marginalized and anticipates the gospel's reach to all nations, where Gentiles become fellow citizens with the saints (Eph. 2:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Exod 22:21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Exod 23:9Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Jer 7:6if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
- Deut 24:14Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- Ezek 22:29The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
- Ezek 22:7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- Deut 10:18–19He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 19:33 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
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