Lexicon :: Strong's H490 - 'almānâ

“But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.

“You shall not pervert the justice due a stranger or an orphan, nor seize (impound) a widow’s garment as security [for a loan].

“[fn]When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf [of grain] in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

“When you have finished [fn]paying all the tithe of your produce the third year, [which is] the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat within the gates of your cities and be satisfied.

‘Cursed is he who distorts (perverts) the justice due to a stranger, an orphan, and a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

“You have sent widows away empty-handed,

And the arms (strength) of the fatherless have been broken.

“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;

They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

“He preys on the barren (childless) woman

And does no good for the widow.

“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,

And [their] widows will not be able to weep.

“The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,

And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,

Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows,

Is God in His holy habitation.

His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,

And His widows could not weep.

[fn]They kill the widow and the alien

And murder the fatherless.

Let his children be fatherless

And his wife a widow.

The LORD protects the strangers;

He supports the fatherless and the widow;

But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.

The LORD will tear down the house of the proud and arrogant (self-righteous),

But He will establish and protect the boundaries [of the land] of the [godly] widow.

Learn to do good.

Seek justice,

Rebuke the ruthless,

Defend the fatherless,

Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].

Your rulers are rebels

And companions of thieves;

Everyone loves bribes

And chases after gifts.

They do not defend the fatherless,

Nor does the widow’s cause come before them [instead they delay or turn a deaf ear].

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,

Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;

For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,

And every mouth is speaking foolishness.

In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away

But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

So as to deprive the needy of justice

And rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,

So that widows may be their spoil

And that they may plunder the fatherless.

[fn]Hyenas will howl in their castles,

And jackals in their luxurious palaces.

Babylon’s time has nearly come,

And her days will not be prolonged.

“Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life,

You who dwell safely and securely,

Who say in your heart (mind),

‘I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me.

I shall not sit as a widow,

Nor know the loss of children.’

“I will make their widows more numerous before Me

Than the sand of the seas;

I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men,

A [fn]destroyer at noonday;

I will suddenly cause anguish and terror

To fall on her.

Therefore, give their children over to the famine;

Give them over to the power of the sword.

And let their wives become childless and widowed;

Let their men meet death [by virulent disease],

Their young men be struck down by the sword in battle.

“Leave your orphans behind; I will [do what is needed to] keep them alive.

And let [those who are] your widows trust and confide in Me.”

[fn]How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem]

That was [once] full of people!

How like a widow she has become.

She who was great among the nations!

The princess among the provinces,

Has become a forced laborer!

We have become orphans without a father;

Our mothers are like widows.

‘He destroyed their palaces

And he flattened their cities;

And the land and all who were in it were appalled

By the sound of his roaring.