Bible Strands
Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses the king of Judah, his officials, and the citizens entering the palace gates, issuing a direct command before outlining the conditional consequences for David’s throne.
The words — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) and צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) command the administration of justice and righteousness, while הַצִּילוּ (hatsilu) and גָזוּל (gazul) instruct the people to deliver the robbed.
The thread — This mandate appears in Jeremiah 21:12’s call to administer justice every morning, is violated in Jeremiah 22:17’s indictment of dishonest gain and innocent bloodshed, and aligns with Micah 6:8’s summary of what the LORD requires.
Why it lands — The text demands concrete protection for the vulnerable and absolute prohibition against violence within the land, requiring readers to prioritize systemic justice over personal gain or ritual observance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.
- Jeremiah 22:17 “But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- Ezekiel 22:7 Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
- Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Deuteronomy 19:10 Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.