Isaiah on Showing Mercy, Seeking Justice and Serving the Poor
Chapter 115 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight.Give up your evil ways.17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans.Fight for the rights of widows. 23 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.27 Zion will be restored by justice;those who repent will be revived by righteousness.Chapter 314 The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people:“You have ruined Israel, my vineyard.Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.15 How dare you crush my people,grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?”demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.Chapter 10 1 What sorrow awaits the unjust judgesand those who issue unfair laws.2 They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widowsand take advantage of orphans.3 What will you do when I punish you,when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe?Chapter 111 Out of the stump of David’s family[a] will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might,the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.3 He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay.4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word,and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.Chapter 16 3"Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive; let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you;be a shelter to them[a] from the destroyer.When the oppressor is no more and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love,and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David ne who judges and seeks justiceand is swift to do righteousness." (ESV)Chapter 251 O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God.You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.2 You turn mighty cities into heaps of ruins. Cities with strong walls are turned to rubble.Beautiful palaces in distant lands disappear and will never be rebuilt.3 Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory; ruthless nations will fear you.4 But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall,5 or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled.Chapter 324 Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly.5 In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Scoundrels will not be respected.6 For fools speak foolishness and make evil plans. They practice ungodliness and spread false teachings about the Lord. They deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty.7 The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just.8 But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.Chapter 4117 “When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.18 I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.19 I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.20 I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means— that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.Chapter 561 This is what the Lord says:“Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.2 Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong."Chapter 581 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’“I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers.4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.7 Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!10 Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.11 The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.Chapter 591 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned awayand will not listen anymore.3 Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with sin. Your lips are full of lies, and your mouth spews corruption.4 No one cares about being fair and honest. The people’s lawsuits are based on lies. They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin.5 Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.15 The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice.16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him.Chapter 611 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.[a]2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come,[b]and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.3 To all who mourn in Israel,[c] he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.8 “For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrongdoing. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them.