Ecclesiastes 4:1

Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition

I looked again and saw people being mistreated everywhere on earth. They were crying, but no one was there to offer comfort, and those who mistreated them were powerful.

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 3:16

Everywhere on earth I saw violence and injustice instead of fairness and justice.

Ecclesiastes 5:8

Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do.

Isaiah 5:7

I am the Lord All-Powerful! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with care. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.

James 5:4

You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.

Matthew 26:56

But all this happened, so that what the prophets wrote would come true.” All Jesus' disciples left him and ran away.

Malachi 3:5

The Lord All-Powerful said: I'm now on my way to judge you. And I will quickly condemn all who practice witchcraft or cheat in marriage or tell lies in court or rob workers of their pay or mistreat widows and orphans or steal the property of foreigners or refuse to respect me.

Lamentations 1:9

Her sins had made her filthy, but she wasn't worried about what could happen. And when Jerusalem fell, it was so tragic. No one gave her comfort when she cried out, “Help! I'm in trouble, Lord! The enemy has won.”

Lamentations 1:2

Each night, bitter tears flood her cheeks. None of her former lovers are there to offer comfort; her friends have betrayed her and are now her enemies.

Isaiah 51:23

Instead I will give it to your brutal enemies, who treated you like dirt and walked all over you.”

Psalm 42:9

You are my mighty rock. Why have you forgotten me? Why must enemies mistreat me and make me sad?

Psalm 42:3

Day and night my tears are my only food, as everyone keeps asking, “Where is your God?”

Psalm 12:5

But you, Lord, tell them, “I will do something! The poor are mistreated and helpless people moan. I'll rescue all who suffer.”

Job 35:9

In times of trouble, everyone begs the mighty God to have mercy.

Isaiah 59:7

You hurry off to do wrong or murder innocent victims. All you think about is sin; you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go.

Malachi 3:18

Then everyone will once again see the difference between those who obey me by doing right and those who reject me by doing wrong.

Malachi 2:13

And what else are you doing? You cry noisily and flood the Lord's altar with your tears, because he isn't pleased with your offerings and refuses to accept them.

Ecclesiastes 7:7

Corruption makes fools of sensible people, and bribes can ruin you.

Proverbs 28:3

When someone poor takes over and mistreats the poor, it's like a heavy rain destroying the crops.

Psalm 142:4

Even if you look, you won't see anyone who cares enough to walk beside me. There is no place to hide, and no one who really cares.

Psalm 80:5

You gave us tears for food, and you made us drink them by the bowlful.

Psalm 69:20

I am crushed by insults, and I feel sick. I had hoped for mercy and pity, but there was none.

Job 16:4

If I were in your place, it would be easy to criticize or to give advice.

Job 6:29

Stop accusing me falsely; my reputation is at stake.

Judges 4:3

Jabin's army had 900 iron chariots, and for 20 years he made life miserable for the Israelites, until finally they begged the Lord for help.

Deuteronomy 28:48

he will send enemies to attack you and make you their slaves. Then you will live in poverty with nothing to eat, drink, or wear, and your owners will work you to death.

Deuteronomy 28:33

You will work hard on your farms, but everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners, who will mistreat you and abuse you for the rest of your life.

Exodus 1:22

until finally, the king gave a command to everyone in the nation, “As soon as a Hebrew boy is born, throw him into the Nile River! But you can let the girls live.”

Exodus 1:16

He told them, “If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!”

Proverbs 19:7

If you are poor, your own relatives reject you, and your friends are worse. When you really need them, they are not there.

Ecclesiastes 8:9

I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another?

Jeremiah 16:7

No one will bring food and wine to help comfort those who are mourning the death of their father or mother.

Lamentations 1:16

Because of this, I mourn, and tears flood my eyes. No one is here to comfort or to encourage me; we have lost the war— my people are suffering.

Job 9:24

And who else but God blindfolds the judges, then lets the wicked take over the earth?

Psalm 69:21

Enemies poisoned my food, and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar.

Psalm 142:5

I pray to you, Lord! You are my place of safety, and you are my choice in the land of the living. Please answer my prayer. I am completely helpless.

Proverbs 29:2

When justice rules a nation, everyone is glad; when injustice rules, everyone groans.

Lamentations 1:17

Zion reaches out her hands, but no one offers comfort. The Lord has turned the neighboring nations against Jacob's descendants. Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag to her neighbors.

Amos 3:9

Here is a message for the leaders of Philistia and Egypt— tell everyone to come together on the hills of Samaria. Let them see the injustice and the lawlessness in that city.

Amos 3:10

The Lord has said that they don't even know how to do right. They have become rich from violence and robbery.