They are like lions, waiting for me, wanting to tear me to pieces.

Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,

There is not an honest person left in the land, no one loyal to God. Everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. Everyone hunts down their own people.

But don't listen to them, because there are more than forty men who will be hiding and waiting for him. They have taken a vow not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are now ready to do it and are waiting for your decision."

He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.

Does a lion roar in the forest unless he has found a victim? Does a young lion growl in his den unless he has caught something?

Where now is the city that was like a den of lions, the place where young lions were fed, where the lion and the lioness would go and their cubs would be safe?

The lion killed his prey and tore it to pieces for his mate and her cubs; he filled his den with torn flesh.

The rulers cry out in grief; their glory is gone! Listen to the roaring of the lions; their forest home along the Jordan is destroyed!

"Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who lay nets to catch birds, but they have set their traps to catch people.

She raised a cub and taught him to hunt; he learned to eat people.

She waited until she saw all hope was gone. Then she raised another of her cubs, and he grew into a fierce lion.

The Babylonians catch people with hooks, as though they were fish. They drag them off in nets and shout for joy over their catch!

When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

"But now I will come," says the LORD, "because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for."

With all my heart I will say to the LORD, "There is no one like you. You protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the oppressor."

The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to kill the poor and needy, to slaughter those who do what is right;

because he defends the poor and saves them from those who condemn them to death.

But God saves the poor from death; he saves the needy from oppression.

He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.

If you oppress poor people, you insult the God who made them; but kindness shown to the poor is an act of worship.

If you make gifts to rich people or oppress the poor to get rich, you will become poor yourself.

Poor people are helpless against a wicked ruler; he is as dangerous as a growling lion or a prowling bear.

You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken."

A stupid person is evil and does evil things; he plots to ruin the poor with lies and to keep them from getting their rights.

The wealthy cheat and rob. They mistreat the poor and take advantage of foreigners.

The LORD says, "The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals.

They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name.

You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant.

I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

Your arrows pierced the commander of his army when it came like a storm to scatter us, gloating like those who secretly oppress the poor.