⁹ Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.

²³ Now after a long time the king of Egypt came to his end: and the children of Israel were crying in their grief under the weight of their work, and their cry for help came to the ears of God.

²⁸ So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.

³ And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong.

⁴ And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man,

⁵ Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming.

⁶ And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge.

⁷ And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it?

¹ <To the chief music-maker; put to Jonath elem rehokim. Of David. Michtam. When the Philistines took him in Gath.> Have mercy on me, O God, for man is attempting my destruction; every day he makes cruel attacks against me.

² My haters are ever ready to put an end to me; great numbers are lifting themselves up against me.

² Give thought to me, and let my prayer be answered: I have been made low in sorrow;

³ I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers; for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.

² You are the God of my strength; why have you put me from you? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters?

⁵ Because of the crushing of the poor and the weeping of those in need, now will I come to his help, says the Lord; I will give him the salvation which he is desiring.

¹⁵ Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.

⁹ Then I will give praise to you, saying that your right hand is able to give you salvation.

¹² From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

¹⁹ He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions;

¹ Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their countrymen the Jews.

² For there were some who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are a great number: let us get grain, so that we may have food for our needs.

³ And there were some who said, We are giving our fields and our vine-gardens and our houses for debt: let us get grain because we are in need.

⁴ And there were others who said, We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes.

⁵ But our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children as their children: and now we are giving our sons and daughters into the hands of others, to be their servants, and some of our daughters are servants even now: and we have no power to put a stop to it; for other men have our fields and our vine-gardens.

⁹ For now, truly, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the cruel behaviour of the Egyptians to them.

⁷ And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;