An elder advocates for poor families and children before wealthy, indifferent judges in an ancient court

Psalm 82

King James Version + Apocrypha
Chapter overview
Psalm 82 indicts rulers who favor the wicked while the weak, orphaned, poor, and oppressed remain vulnerable. Their injustice shakes society's foundations, prompting an appeal for the true judge to restore right order.
JusticeVulnerableJudgmentLeadership

About Psalms: book summary and outline →

1God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

King James Version + Apocrypha — Public Domain. Where these translations come from.