Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.
Parallel translations
- WEB Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
- KJV Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
- NKJV Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.
- NASB Rescue the weak and needy; Save them from the hand of the wicked.
- NLT Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
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
Rulers are to rescue the weak and needy from the grip of the wicked. Justice means active deliverance, not mere words.
Overview
God commands not just fair verdicts but concrete rescue of the oppressed from their oppressors. True justice rolls up its sleeves to deliver the helpless. This anticipates the saving work of God in Christ, who delivers the needy from the power of evil and will finally set all things right.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 24:11–12Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
- Job 5:15–16He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.
- Job 29:12because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
- Ps 140:12I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Ps 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- Job 29:16–17I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
- Neh 5:1–13About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 82:4 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.