Isaiah 10:1-2

10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who are always instituting unfair regulations, ² 

10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,

and to deprive ³  the oppressed among my people of justice,

so they can steal what widows own,

and loot what belongs to orphans. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 5:28-29

5:28 That is how ⁵  they have grown fat and sleek. ⁶ 

There is no limit to the evil things they do. ⁷ 

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! ⁸ 

Zechariah 7:10

7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁹  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ¹⁰  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹¹  who refuse to help ¹²  the immigrant ¹³  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Luke 18:2-5

18:2 He said, ¹⁴  “In a certain city ¹⁵  there was a judge ¹⁶  who neither feared God nor respected people. ¹⁷  18:3 There was also a widow ¹⁸  in that city ¹⁹  who kept coming ²⁰  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 18:4 For ²¹  a while he refused, but later on ²²  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ²³  18:5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out ²⁴  by her unending pleas.’” ²⁵ 

[10:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who decree evil decrees.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “[to] the writers who write out harm.” The participle and verb are in the Piel, suggesting repetitive action.

[10:2]  ³ tn Or “rob” (ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); KJV “take away the right from the poor.”

[10:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “so that widows are their plunder, and they can loot orphans.”

[5:28]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

[5:28]  ⁶ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

[5:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

[5:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.

[3:5]  ⁹ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ¹² tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “lose heart, saying.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronominal subject “He.”

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “town.”

[18:2]  ¹⁶ sn The judge here is apparently portrayed as a civil judge who often handled financial cases.

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:3]  ¹⁸ sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.

[18:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “town.”

[18:3]  ²⁰ tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.

[18:4]  ²¹ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:4]  ²² tn Grk “after these things.”

[18:4]  ²³ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:5]  ²⁴ tn The term ὑπωπιάζω (Jupwpiazw) in this context means “to wear someone out by continual annoying” (L&N 25.245).

[18:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “by her continual coming,” but the point of annoyance to the judge is her constant pleas for justice (v. 3).