There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise [promotes] health.

I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.

Arise, O LORD; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

My soul [is] among lions; I lie [among] the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth [are] spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.

Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!

"And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and [had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!'

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It [was] different from all the beasts that [were] before it, and it had ten horns.

They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' [teeth.]

He who oppresses the poor to increase his [riches,] [And] he who gives to the rich, [will] surely [come] to poverty.

A poor man who oppresses the poor [Is like] a driving rain which leaves no food.

He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.

He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.

"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will set [him] in the safety for which he yearns."

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people [as] they eat bread, And do not call on the LORD?

Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter -- On the side of their oppressors [there is] power, But they have no comforter.

Also the schemes of the schemer [are] evil; He devises wicked plans To destroy the poor with lying words, Even when the needy speaks justice.

They pant after the dust of the earth [which is] on the head of the poor, And pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the [same] girl, To defile My holy name.

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who [are] on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring [wine,] let us drink!"

Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail,

Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and take [them] by violence, Also houses, and seize [them.] So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: [Is it] not for you to know justice?

Who also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop [them] in pieces Like [meat] for the pot, Like flesh in the caldron."

Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant "Peace" While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him Who puts nothing into their mouths:

You thrust through with his own arrows The head of his villages. They came out like a whirlwind to scatter me; Their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret.

Her princes in her midst [are] roaring lions; Her judges [are] evening wolves That leave not a bone till morning.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

Come now, [you] rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon [you!]

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.