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.
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 remember that
thou wast a bondman
in Egypt:
and
thou shalt observe
and do
these statutes.
Thou shalt observe
the feast
of tabernacles seven days,
after that thou
hast gathered
in thy corn
and thy wine:
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:
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.
If brethren
dwell together,
and one
of them die,
and have
no child,
the wife
of the dead
shall not marry without
unto a stranger:
her husband's brother
shall go in
unto her,
and take her
to him
to wife,
and perform
the duty
of an husband's brother
unto her.
And it
shall be,
that the firstborn which
she beareth
shall succeed
in the name
of his brother which
is dead,
that his name
be not put out of Israel.
And
if the man like not
to take
his brother's wife,
then let
his brother's wife
go up to the gate
unto the elders,
and say,
My husband's brother
refuseth
to raise up
unto his brother
a name in Israel,
he will not perform the duty
of my husband's brother.
Then the elders
of his city
shall call him,
and
speak unto him:
and
if he
stand to it,
and say,
I like not
to take her;
Then shall
his brother's wife
come
unto him
in the presence
of the elders,
and loose
his shoe from
off his foot,
and spit
in his face,
and shall answer
and say,
So shall
it be done
unto that man
that will not build up
his brother's house.
And his name
shall be called in
Israel,
The house
of him that
hath
his shoe loosed.
Cursed
be
he that
perverteth
the judgment
of the stranger,
fatherless,
and widow.
And all
the people
shall say,
Amen.
Is not thy wickedness great?
and thine iniquities infinite?
They drive away
the ass
of the fatherless,
they take
the widow's ox
for a pledge.
He evil
entreateth
the barren
that beareth not:
and doeth not good
to the widow.
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;
Then let
mine
arm
fall
from my shoulder blade,
and mine
arm
be broken
from the bone.
A father
of the fatherless,
and a judge
of the widows,
is God
in his holy habitation.
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.
The LORD
will destroy
the house
of the proud:
but
he will establish
the border
of the widow.
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!
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.
And oppress not
the widow,
nor the fatherless,
the stranger,
nor the poor;
and let none of you
imagine evil
against his brother
in your heart.
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.
Woe unto you,
scribes
and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
for ye
devour widows' houses,
and
for a pretence make long prayer:
therefore ye
shall receive
the greater damnation.
And in those days,
when
the number
of the disciples
was multiplied,
there arose
a murmuring
of the Grecians
against the Hebrews,
because
their widows
were neglected
in the daily ministration.
Honour widows
that are widows indeed.
But
if any widow
have children
or nephews,
let them
learn first
to shew piety at home,
and
to requite their parents:
for that is
good
and acceptable
before God.
Now she
that is
a widow indeed,
and desolate,
trusteth in God,
and continueth in supplications
and prayers
night and day.
But she
that
liveth in pleasure
is dead
while she liveth.
Let not a widow
be taken
into the number
under threescore years old,
having been the wife
of one man.
Well reported of
for good works;
if she
have brought
up children,
if she
have lodged strangers,
if she
have washed
the saints' feet,
if she
have relieved
the afflicted,
if she
have diligently followed
every good work.
But the younger widows refuse:
for when
they have begun
to wax wanton
against Christ,
they will marry;
Having damnation,
because
they have cast
off their first faith.
If any man
or woman
that believeth
have widows,
let them
relieve them,
and let not
the church
be charged;
that it
may relieve them
that are widows indeed.
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.