And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.

How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit.

And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.

And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.

Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?

Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.

Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.