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Cruelty and oppression forbidden and denounced. 610. Are cruelty and oppression forbidden and denounced?

Ex. 22. 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Lev. 19. 13. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him.

Job 20. 19. Because he hath oppressed, and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not. 23. God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.

Job 27. 13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Ps. 62. 10. Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. 12. For thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Ps. 72. 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

Pr. 22. 16. He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Is. 10. 1. Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from afar?

Jer. 22. 13. Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.

Jer. 34. 17. Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold I proclaim a liberty for

Adultery, robbery, man-stealing, murder.

you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Ezk. 18. 10. If he begat a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood. 12. Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence- -shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

Mal. 3. 5. I will come near to you to judgment: and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

Mat. 23. 23. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 25. Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion, and excess.

1 Cor. 6. 10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Thes. 4. 6. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such.

Jam. 2. 13. He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.

611. Can any practice adultery, robbery, man-stealing and murder with impunity?

Ex. 21. 16. He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. Dt. 24. 7.

Dt. 5. 17. Thou shalt not kill. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. 21, Nei

Evils of adultery, robbery, &c.

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ther shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet any thing that is thy neighbor's.

Pr. 22. 22. Rob not the poor because he is poor; neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

Is. 61. 8. I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt-offering.

Hos. 4. 2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore, shall the land mourr, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish.

Am. 2. 5. I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek. Am. 3. 10. They know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaTherefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

ces.

Nah. 3. 1. Wo to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not.

1 Tim. 1. 9. The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons.

612. Have adultery, cruelty, robbery, oppression and extortion proved a natural and political evil?

2 S. 21. 1. There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired,

Evils of adultery, robbery, &c.

of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. Pr. 7. 24. Hearken unto me, now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: {yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. Pr. 21. 7. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.

Ec. 7. 7. Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad.

Is. 30. 12. Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness and stay there on : Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

Ezk. 22. 12. Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. 27. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. 29. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 31. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

Nah. 3. 4. Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well favored harlot, the mistress of witcherafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts:-And I will cast abomi

Cries of the oppressed.

nable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Ninevah is laid waste: who will bemoan her?

Jude 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them'in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

613. Does God hear the cries of the oppressed?

Ex. 3. 7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for 1 know their sorrows: And I am come down to deliver them. 9. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Ps. 9. 12. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Ps. 22. 24. He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him he heard.

Ps. 72. 12. He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

Pr. 14. 31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.

Ec. 5. 8. 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.

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