100 Bible Verses About Social Justice

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

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.

Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.

Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the Lord.

And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.

And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.

And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Thou shalt not kill.

If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?

For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth–maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.

Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.