Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.
the nobles refrained from talking and laid their hands on their mouths;
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die.
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
Wisdom is too high for fools; in the gate they do not open their mouths.
The righteous know the rights of the poor; the wicked have no such understanding.
let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
O house of David! Thus says the Lord: Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed, or else my wrath will go forth like fire and burn, with no one to quench it, because of their evil doings.
But the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over into the hands of the people to be put to death.
“Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”
Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”