Leviticus 19:13

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. ¹  You must not withhold ²  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ³  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ⁴  24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Job 24:10-11

24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,

and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. ⁵ 

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; ⁶ 

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. ⁷ 

Job 31:38-39

Job’s Final Solemn Oath ⁸ 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ⁹ 

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ¹⁰ 

or caused the death ¹¹  of its owners, ¹² 

Isaiah 5:7

5:7 Indeed ¹³  Israel ¹⁴  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ¹⁵  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ¹⁶ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 22:13

Judgment on Jehoiakim

22:13 “‘Sure to be judged ¹⁸  is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ¹⁹ 

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

Habakkuk 2:11

2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,

and the wooden rafters will answer back. ²⁰ 

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ²¹  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, ²²  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ²³  who refuse to help ²⁴  the immigrant ²⁵  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

[19:13]  ¹ tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

[24:14]  ³ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

[24:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:10]  ⁵ sn The point should not be missed – amidst abundant harvests, carrying sheaves about, they are still going hungry.

[24:11]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.

[24:11]  ⁷ tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.

[31:38]  ⁸ sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.

[31:38]  ⁹ sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.

[31:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “without silver.”

[31:39]  ¹¹ tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.

[31:39]  ¹² tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[22:13]  ¹⁸ sn Heb “Woe.” This particle is used in laments for the dead (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 34:5) and as an introductory particle in indictments against a person on whom judgment is pronounced (cf., e.g., Isa 5:8, 11; Jer 23:1). The indictment is found here in vv. 13-17 and the announcement of judgment in vv. 18-19.

[22:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Woe to the one who builds his house by unrighteousness and its upper rooms with injustice using his neighbor [= countryman] as a slave for nothing and not giving to him his wages.”

[2:11]  ²⁰ sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.

[3:5]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”