You not only refused to help widows, but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.

So now there are pitfalls all around you, and suddenly you are full of fear.

In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.

When the poor cried out, I helped them; I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn.

People who were in deepest misery praised me, and I helped widows find security.

When I found someone in need, too poor to buy clothes,

I would give him clothing made of wool that had come from my own flock of sheep. Then he would praise me with all his heart.

When people are oppressed, they groan; they cry for someone to save them.

Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God,

who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then the LORD said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings,

I have indeed heard the cry of my people, and I see how the Egyptians are oppressing them.

"But now I will come," says the LORD, "because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for."

Israel is the vineyard of the LORD Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted. He expected them to do what was good, but instead they committed murder. He expected them to do what was right, but their victims cried out for justice.

You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.

If you do, I, the LORD, will answer them when they cry out to me for help,

"If you lend money to any of my people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and require him to pay interest.

because it is the only covering he has to keep him warm. What else can he sleep in? When he cries out to me for help, I will answer him because I am merciful.