²⁷ Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

³ And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.

²⁷ The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.

¹⁰ But even she has been taken away, she has gone away as a prisoner: even her young children are smashed to bits at the top of all the streets: the fate of her honoured men is put to the decision of chance, and all her great men are put in chains.

³ And I will let wonders be seen in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

¹⁵ He has made a hole deep in the earth, and is falling into the hole which he has made

⁹ The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.

³ They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

⁹ You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.

⁵ And I will come near to you for judging; I will quickly be a witness against the wonder-workers, against those who have been untrue in married life, against those who take false oaths; against those who keep back from the servant his payment, and who are hard on the widow and the child without a father, who do not give his rights to the man from a strange country, and have no fear of me, says the Lord of armies.

⁷ In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

²² Let a cry for help go up from their houses, when you send an armed band on them suddenly: for they have made a hole in which to take me, and have put nets for my feet secretly.

²⁰ Is evil to be the reward of good? for they have made a deep hole for my soul. Keep in mind how I took my place before you, to say a good word for them so that your wrath might be turned away from them.

¹⁰ Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;

¹¹ For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.

³ Give ear to the cause of the poor and the children without fathers; let those who are troubled and in need have their rights.

⁶ They have made ready a net for my steps; my soul is bent down; they have made a great hole before me, and have gone down into it themselves. (Selah.)

²¹ If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

¹⁷ If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;

¹² For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter.

²² Do no wrong to a widow, or to a child whose father is dead.

²³ If you are cruel to them in any way, and their cry comes up to me, I will certainly give ear;

²⁴ And in the heat of my wrath I will put you to death with the sword, so that your wives will be widows and your children without fathers.