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.
All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.
The people of the land have been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.
Will a lion give his loud cry in the woodland when no food is there? will the voice of the young lion be sounding from his hole if he has taken nothing?
The good man is gone from the earth, there is no one upright among men: they are all waiting secretly for blood, every man is going after his brother with a net.
You have put your spears through his head, his horsemen were sent in flight like dry stems; they had joy in driving away the poor, in making a meal of them secretly.
The sound of the crying of the keepers of the flock! for their glory is made waste: the sound of the loud crying of the young lions! for the pride of Jordan is made waste.
He who is a servant, and not the keeper or the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and goes in flight, away from the sheep; and the wolf comes down on them and sends them in all directions:
But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order.