Now these
are the generations
of Terah:
Terah begat Abram, Nahor,
and Haran;
and Haran
begat Lot.
And Haran
died
before his father Terah
in the land
of his nativity,
in Ur
of the Chaldees.
Ye shall not afflict any widow,
or fatherless child.
If thou
afflict them
in any wise,
and they
cry
at all unto me,
I will surely hear
their cry;
And my wrath
shall wax hot,
and
I will kill you
with the sword;
and your wives
shall be widows,
and your children fatherless.
Then came
the daughters
of Zelophehad,
the son
of Hepher,
the son
of Gilead,
the son
of Machir,
the son
of Manasseh,
of the families
of Manasseh
the son
of Joseph:
and these
are the names
of his daughters;
Mahlah, Noah,
and Hoglah,
and Milcah,
and Tirzah.
And they
stood
before Moses,
and
before Eleazar the priest,
and
before the princes
and all
the congregation,
by the door
of the tabernacle
of the congregation,
saying,
Our father
died
in the wilderness,
and he
was not
in the company
of them that
gathered themselves
together against the LORD
in the company
of Korah;
but died
in his own sin,
and had
no sons.
Why should
the name
of our father
be done away from
among his family,
because
he hath no son?
Give unto us
therefore a possession
among the brethren
of our father.
And Moses
brought
their cause
before the LORD.
He doth execute
the judgment
of the fatherless
and widow,
and loveth the stranger,
in giving him food
and raiment.
At the end
of three years
thou shalt bring forth all
the tithe
of thine
increase the same year,
and shalt lay it up
within thy gates:
And the Levite,
(because
he
hath
no part
nor inheritance
with thee,)
and the stranger,
and the fatherless,
and the widow,
which are within thy gates,
shall come,
and shall eat
and be satisfied;
that the LORD
thy God
may bless thee
in all the work
of thine hand which
thou doest.
And
thou shalt rejoice
before the LORD thy God,
thou,
and thy son,
and thy daughter,
and thy manservant,
and thy maidservant,
and the Levite
that is
within thy gates,
and the stranger,
and the fatherless,
and the widow,
that are among you,
in the place
which the LORD thy God
hath chosen
to place
his name there.
And
thou shalt rejoice
in thy feast,
thou,
and thy son,
and thy daughter,
and thy manservant,
and thy maidservant,
and the Levite,
the stranger,
and the fatherless,
and the widow,
that are within thy gates.
Thou shalt not pervert
the judgment
of the stranger,
nor
of the fatherless;
nor take
a widow's raiment
to pledge:
But
thou shalt remember that
thou wast a bondman
in Egypt,
and the LORD
thy God
redeemed thee
thence:
therefore I
command thee
to do this thing.
When thou
cuttest down thine
harvest
in thy field,
and hast
forgot a sheaf
in the field,
thou shalt not go again
to fetch it:
it shall be
for the stranger,
for the fatherless,
and for the widow:
that the LORD
thy God
may bless thee
in all the work
of thine hands.
When
thou beatest thine olive tree,
thou shalt not go over
the boughs again:
it shall be
for the stranger,
for the fatherless,
and for the widow.
When
thou gatherest
the grapes
of thy vineyard,
thou shalt not glean it afterward:
it shall be
for the stranger,
for the fatherless,
and for the widow.
And
thou shalt remember that
thou wast a bondman
in the land
of Egypt:
therefore I
command thee
to do this thing.
When
thou hast made
an end
of tithing all
the tithes
of thine
increase the third year,
which is the year
of tithing,
and hast given
it unto the Levite,
the stranger,
the fatherless,
and the widow,
that they
may eat
within thy gates,
and be filled;
Then
thou shalt say
before the LORD thy God,
I have brought away
the hallowed things
out of mine house,
and also have given them
unto the Levite,
and
unto the stranger,
to the fatherless,
and to the widow,
according to all
thy commandments which
thou hast commanded me:
I have not transgressed
thy commandments,
neither have
I forgotten them.
Cursed
be
he that
perverteth
the judgment
of the stranger,
fatherless,
and widow.
And all
the people
shall say,
Amen.
Now therefore,
if ye
have done truly
and sincerely,
in that
ye have made
Abimelech king,
and
if ye
have dealt well
with Jerubbaal
and his house,
and have done
unto him according to
the deserving
of his hands;
(For my father
fought
for you,
and adventured
his life far,
and delivered you
out of the hand
of Midian:
And
ye are risen up
against my father's
house
this day,
and have slain
his sons,
threescore
and ten persons,
upon one stone,
and have made
Abimelech,
the son
of his maidservant,
king over the men
of Shechem,
because
he is your brother;)
If ye
then have dealt truly
and
sincerely with Jerubbaal
and with his house
this day,
then rejoice
ye in Abimelech,
and let him
also rejoice
in you:
But if not,
let fire
come out
from Abimelech,
and devour
the men
of Shechem,
and the house
of Millo;
and let
fire
come out
from the men
of Shechem,
and
from the house
of Millo,
and devour
Abimelech.
And Jotham ran away,
and fled,
and went to Beer,
and dwelt there,
for fear
of Abimelech his brother.
And the king said,
Is there not yet
any of the house
of Saul,
that I
may shew
the kindness
of God unto him?
And Ziba
said
unto the king,
Jonathan
hath yet a son,
which is lame
on his feet.
And
when Athaliah
the mother
of Ahaziah
saw
that her son
was dead,
she arose
and destroyed all
the seed royal.
But Jehosheba,
the daughter
of king Joram,
sister
of Ahaziah,
took Joash
the son
of Ahaziah,
and stole
him from
among the king's sons which
were slain;
and they
hid him,
even him
and his nurse,
in the bedchamber
from Athaliah,
so that
he was not slain.
And he
was with her
hid in the house
of the LORD six years.
And Athaliah
did reign
over the land.
And the seventh year Jehoiada
sent and fetched
the rulers
over hundreds,
with the captains
and the guard,
and brought them
to him
into the house
of the LORD,
and made
a covenant
with them,
and took
an oath
of them
in the house
of the LORD,
and shewed them
the king's son.
And
he commanded them,
saying,
This is
the thing that
ye shall do;
A third part
of you
that enter in
on the sabbath
shall even be keepers
of the watch
of the king's house;
And a third part
shall be at the gate
of Sur;
and a third part
at the gate
behind the guard:
so shall
ye keep
the watch
of the house,
that it
be not broken down.
And two
parts of all you
that go forth
on the sabbath,
even
they shall keep
the watch
of the house
of the LORD
about the king.
And
ye shall compass
the king round about,
every man
with his weapons
in his hand:
and
he that
cometh within the ranges,
let him
be slain:
and be
ye with the king as he
goeth out and as he
cometh in.
And the captains
over the hundreds
did according to all
things that Jehoiada
the priest commanded:
and
they took
every man
his men that
were
to come in
on the sabbath,
with them that
should go out
on the sabbath,
and came
to Jehoiada the priest.
And
to the captains
over hundreds
did
the priest
give
king David's spears
and shields,
that were in the temple
of the LORD.
And the guard stood,
every man
with his weapons
in his hand,
round
about the king,
from the right corner
of the temple
to the left corner
of the temple,
along by the altar
and the temple.
And
he brought forth
the king's son,
and put
the crown
upon him,
and gave him
the testimony;
and
they made him king,
and anointed him;
and
they clapped
their hands,
and said,
God save
the king.
And he
brought
up Hadassah,
that is,
Esther,
his uncle's daughter:
for she
had neither father
nor mother,
and the maid
was fair
and beautiful;
whom Mordecai,
when her father
and mother
were dead,
took for his own daughter.
Yea,
ye overwhelm
the fatherless,
and
ye dig
a pit
for your friend.
Thou hast sent
widows away empty,
and
the arms
of the fatherless
have been broken.
They drive away
the ass
of the fatherless,
they take
the widow's ox
for a pledge.
They pluck
the fatherless
from the breast,
and take
a pledge
of the poor.
Because
I delivered
the poor
that cried,
and the fatherless,
and him
that had none
to help him.
The blessing
of him that
was ready
to perish came upon me:
and
I caused
the widow's heart
to sing
for joy.
If I
have withheld the poor
from their desire,
or have caused
the eyes
of the widow
to fail;
Or have eaten
my morsel myself alone,
and the fatherless
hath not eaten
thereof;
(For
from my youth
he was brought up with me,
as with a father,
and
I have guided her
from my mother's womb;)
If I
have lifted
up my hand
against the fatherless,
when
I saw
my help
in the gate:
Thou hast seen it;
for thou
beholdest mischief
and spite,
to requite
it with thy hand:
the poor
committeth himself
unto thee;
thou art
the helper
of the fatherless.
LORD,
thou hast heard
the desire
of the humble:
thou wilt prepare
their heart,
thou wilt cause
thine ear
to hear:
To judge
the fatherless
and the oppressed,
that the man
of the earth
may no more
oppress.
When my father
and my mother
forsake me,
then the LORD
will take me up.
A father
of the fatherless,
and a judge
of the widows,
is God
in his holy habitation.
Defend the poor
and fatherless:
do justice
to the afflicted
and needy.
They slay
the widow
and the stranger,
and murder
the fatherless.
The LORD
preserveth the strangers;
he relieveth
the fatherless
and widow:
but the way
of the wicked
he turneth upside down.
Remove
not the old landmark;
and enter not
into the fields
of the fatherless:
Learn to do well;
seek judgment,
relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
Thy 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.
Woe unto them that decree
unrighteous decrees,
and
that write grievousness
which they
have prescribed;
To turn
aside the needy
from judgment,
and
to take away the right
from the poor
of my people,
that widows
may be
their prey,
and
that they
may rob
the fatherless!
They 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.
If ye
oppress not
the stranger,
the fatherless,
and the widow,
and shed not
innocent blood
in this place,
neither walk
after other gods
to your hurt:
Then will
I cause
you
to dwell
in this place,
in the land
that I
gave to your fathers,
for ever
and ever.
Thus 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.
Leave thy fatherless children,
I will preserve them alive;
and let
thy widows
trust in me.
We are orphans
and fatherless,
our mothers are as widows.
Asshur shall not save us;
we will not ride
upon horses:
neither will
we say any more
to the work
of our hands,
Ye are our gods:
for in thee
the fatherless
findeth mercy.
And
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.
Pure 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.