³⁴Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

³⁵For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

³⁶Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

²²He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

²⁴They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

⁹By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁷LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

¹⁸To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

⁵For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

⁸The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

¹Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

²Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

²How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

²⁰Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

⁵The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

¹⁵He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

²⁶Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

¹⁵As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.

²⁸When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.

¹²If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.

²¹For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

²²For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;

¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

¹³Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

¹⁴For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.

⁸If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

⁹All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

⁵There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:

⁶Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

⁷I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.