The Eighth Commandment – Do Justice to the Poor, the Sojourners, and the Needy

The Eighth Commandment

8.5 Do justice to the poor, the sojourners, and the needy

Do not neglect, and do not take advantage of, the poor and needy; rather, make it possible for them to know justice and provision with dignity.

Deuteronomy 15:11

“‘For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.”’”

Psalm 41:1; Galatians 2:10

Deuteronomy 15:7, 8

“‘If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.’”

Deuteronomy 24:17, 18

“‘You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.’”

Deuteronomy 10:18, 19; Malachi 3:5

This series of In the Gates provides the Scriptural support for the Ten Commandments and their supporting statutes, rules, and precepts. A complete version of this series is available as The Law of God. Go to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.