Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes and see all the male goats which mate with the flock are striped, speckled, and spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.
“Turn back and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people: Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
In the passing of time, the king of Egypt died. And the Israelites sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out, and their cry came up to God on account of the bondage.
The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
Again I turned and observed all types of oppression that are done under the sun: Behold, the tears of the oppressed, and no one was there to comfort them. There was force from the hand of the oppressors, and no one was there to comfort them.
If you observe in a district the oppression of the poor and violation of justice and righteousness, do not be astounded by the matter. For the high official is watched over by an even higher official, and there are even higher officials over them.
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to their husbands, “Bring us something to drink!”
“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin. And you will anoint him to be leader over My people Israel, that he may save My people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come unto Me.”