Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
- BSB Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
- NKJV Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
- NASB Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
- NLT “Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
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
God commands rulers to defend the weak, poor, and fatherless and uphold their rights. Caring for the vulnerable is central to godly justice.
Overview
God charges judges with their true calling, to protect those least able to protect themselves. This reflects His own heart for the poor and oppressed throughout Scripture (cf. Deut. 10:18). Such concern foreshadows the ministry of Christ, who came to bring good news to the poor and lift up the lowly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jas 1:27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
- Ps 10:18To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
- Jer 22:3Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
- Deut 10:18He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
- Deut 24:17Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:
- Jer 5:28They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
- Jer 22:16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
- Isa 1:17Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
- Isa 1:23Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 82:3 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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