Whoever refuses to listen to the cries of poor people will also cry out and not be answered.

塞耳不听穷人哀求的，他将来呼吁也不蒙应允。

塞耳不听贫寒人哀求的，他自己呼求，也不蒙应允。

塞耳不听贫寒人哀求的，他自己呼求，也不蒙应允。

掩耳不听穷人呼求的，他将来求救也无人管。

塞耳不听贫穷人呼求的，他将来呼求，也得不到应允。

塞耳不听贫弱者哀声的，他自己呼求时也得不到回应。

塞耳不聽窮人哀求的，他將來呼籲也不蒙應允。

塞耳不聽貧寒人哀求的，他自己呼求，也不蒙應允。

塞耳不聽貧寒人哀求的，他自己呼求，也不蒙應允。

掩耳不聽窮人呼求的，他將來求救也無人管。

塞耳不聽貧窮人呼求的，他將來呼求，也得不到應允。

堵着耳朵不聽貧寒人哀呼的、他將來呼叫，也得不到答應。

塞耳不聽貧弱者哀聲的，他自己呼求時也得不到回應。

貧者呼籲、塞耳弗聞、則己呼籲、亦莫之聽、

貧者有求、爾弗之聽、則汝有求、亦莫爾應。

塞耳不聽貧人之求、則己有所求、亦不蒙應、

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will himself also call out and not be answered.

One who shuts his ear to the outcry of the poor Will also call out himself, and not be answered.

Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.

The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will himself also call out and not be answered.

Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and will not be answered.

Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

Those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy when they are judged. To show mercy is better than to judge.Suppose a person claims to have faith but doesn’t act on their faith. My brothers and sisters, can this kind of faith save them?Suppose a brother or a sister has no clothes or food.Suppose one of you says to them,“ Go. I hope everything turns out fine for you. Keep warm. Eat well.” And suppose you do nothing about what they really need. Then what good have you done?

“ Then you will call to me. But I won’t answer. You will look for me. But you won’t find me.

You might spread out your hands toward me when you pray. But I do not look at you. You might even offer many prayers. But I am not listening to them. Your hands are covered with the blood of the people you have murdered.So wash and make yourselves clean. Get your evil actions out of my sight! Stop doing what is wrong!Learn to do what is right! Treat people fairly. Help those who are treated badly. Stand up in court for children whose fathers have died. And do the same thing for widows.

“ But the first servant refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison. The man would be held there until he could pay back what he owed.The other servants saw what had happened and were very angry. They went and told their master everything that had happened.“ Then the master called the first servant in.‘ You evil servant,’ he said.‘ I forgave all that you owed me because you begged me to.Shouldn’t you have had mercy on the other servant just as I had mercy on you?’In anger his master handed him over to the jailers. He would be punished until he paid back everything he owed.“ This is how my Father in heaven will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Here is what the Lord who rules over all said to his people.“ Treat everyone with justice. Show mercy and tender concern to one another.Do not take advantage of widows. Do not mistreat children whose fathers have died. Do not be mean to outsiders or poor people. Do not make evil plans against one another.”But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears.They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’ s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.“ When I called, they did not listen,” says the Lord.“ So when they called, I would not listen.

Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you.

But now you have turned around. You have treated my name as if it were not holy. Each of you has taken back your male and female slaves. You had set them free to go where they wished. But now you have forced them to become your slaves again.”So the Lord says,“ You have not obeyed me. You have not set your Hebrew slaves free. So now I will set you free,” announces the Lord.“ I will set you free to be destroyed by war, plague and hunger. I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with you.

Those who give to poor people will have all they need. But those who close their eyes to the poor will receive many curses.

You will be judged in the same way you judge others. You will be measured in the same way you measure others.

“ Here is the way I want you to fast.“ Set free those who are held by chains without any reason. Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves. Set free those who are crushed. Break every evil chain.Share your food with hungry people. Provide homeless people with a place to stay. Give naked people clothes to wear. Provide for the needs of your own family.Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun. I will heal you quickly. I will march out ahead of you. And my glory will follow behind you and guard you. That’s because I always do what is right.You will call out to me for help. And I will answer you. You will cry out. And I will say,‘ Here I am.’“ Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down. Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong. Stop saying harmful things about them.

When the Sanhedrin heard this, they covered their ears. They yelled at the top of their voices. They all rushed at him.

“ Then he will say to those on his left,‘ You are cursed! Go away from me into the fire that burns forever. It has been prepared for the devil and his angels.I was hungry. But you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. But you gave me nothing to drink.I was a stranger. But you did not invite me in. I needed clothes. But you did not give me any. I was sick and in prison. But you did not take care of me.’“ They also will answer,‘ Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and not help you? When did we see you as a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?’“ He will reply,‘ What I’m about to tell you is true. Anything you didn’t do for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do for me.’“ Then they will go away to be punished forever. But those who have done what is right will receive eternal life.”

Their words are like the poison of a snake. They are like the poison of a cobra that has covered up its ears.

Some men and their wives cried out against their Jewish brothers and sisters.Some of them were saying,“ There are now many of us. We have many sons and daughters. We have to get some grain so we can eat and stay alive.”Others were saying,“ We’re being forced to sell our fields, vineyards and homes. We have to do it to buy grain. There isn’t enough food for everyone.”Still others were saying,“ We’ve had to borrow money. We needed it to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.We belong to the same family lines as the rest of our people. Our children are as good as theirs. But we’ve had to sell them off as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been made slaves. But we can’t do anything about it. That’s because our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”

They cried out for help. But there was no one to save them. They called out to the Lord. But he didn’t answer them.

Suppose someone is poor among you. And suppose they live in one of the towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Then don’t be mean to them. They are poor. So don’t hold back money from them.Instead, open your hands and lend them what they need. Do it freely.Be careful not to have an evil thought in your mind. Don’t say to yourself,“ The seventh year will soon be here. It’s the year for forgiving people what they owe.” If you think like that, you might treat the needy people among you badly. You might not give them anything. Then they might make their appeal to the Lord against you. And he will find you guilty of sin.So give freely to needy people. Let your heart be tender toward them. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work. He will bless you in everything you do.There will always be poor people in the land. So I’m commanding you to give freely to those who are poor and needy in your land. Open your hands to them.

I also shook out my pockets and emptied them. I said,“ Someone might decide not to keep this promise they have made. If that happens, may God shake them out of their house! May he empty them of everything they own!” The whole community said,“ Amen.” They praised the Lord. And the leaders did what they had promised to do.

The owner of the house will get up and close the door. Then you will stand outside knocking and begging. You will say,‘ Sir, open the door for us.’“ But he will answer,‘ I don’t know you. And I don’t know where you come from.’