If you were in my place I could also talk like you. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you.
Ecclesiastes 4:1 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition THEN I returned and considered all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun: And I beheld the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they [too] had no comforter. American Standard Version (1901) Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. Common English Bible When I next observed all the oppressions that take place under the sun, I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no one to comfort them. Their oppressors wield power—but they have no one to comfort them. Catholic Public Domain Version I turned myself to other things, and I saw the false accusations which are carried out under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and that there was no one to console them; and that they were not able to withstand their violence, being destitute of all help. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any. |
If you were in my place I could also talk like you. I could string words together against you and shake my head at you.
People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the power of the mighty.
Reconsider; don’t be unjust. Reconsider; my righteousness is still the issue.
The earth is handed over to the wicked; he blindfolds its judges. If it isn’t he, then who is it?
‘When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.’
Pharaoh then commanded all his people, ‘You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.’
All the brothers of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends keep their distance from him! He may pursue them with words, but they are not there.
A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.
When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan.
I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgement and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.
If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.
Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind.
All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.
For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness but heard cries of despair.
I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, “Lie down, so that we can walk over you.” You made your back like the ground, and like a street for those who walk on it.
Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
Food won’t be provided for the mourner to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother.
I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to keep me alive. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.
Zion stretches out her hands; there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob that his neighbours should be his adversaries. Jerusalem has become something impure among them.
She weeps bitterly during the night, with tears on her cheeks. There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers. , All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
Her uncleanness stains her skirts. She never considered her end. Her downfall was astonishing; there was no one to comfort her. Lord, look on my affliction, for the enemy boasts.
The people are incapable of doing right – this is the Lord’s declaration – those who store up violence and destruction in their citadels.
Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt: Assemble on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great turmoil in the city and the acts of oppression within it.
This is another thing you do. You are covering the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer respects your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.
So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
‘I will come to you in judgement, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident foreigner. They do not fear me,’ says the Lord of Armies.
But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.
A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have laboured for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually.
you will serve your enemies that the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies.
Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he had harshly oppressed them for twenty years.