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Psalm 82:4

Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”

2“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah.
3“Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
5They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.
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← Psalm 82:3Psalm 82:5 →
Notice

“Rescue” and “Deliver” make the safety of weak and needy people an urgent concern as God confronts those who favor the wicked.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would rescue involve for someone whose mistreatment you have witnessed or heard about?

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How does God’s command to deliver the needy challenge your response to their mistreatment?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Proverbs 24:11Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!Both passages command rescue, with Proverbs naming the threat of death and the psalm naming the grip of the wicked.
Job 5:15–16But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.Both speak of saving the needy from another’s hand, with Job describing deliverance and the psalm commanding it.
Job 29:12because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,Job recounts delivering the poor who cried for help, the kind of rescue Psalm 82 commands for the weak and needy.
Psalm 140:12I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.Both name the needy as people whose protection matters to God, linking rescue with his commitment to justice.
Psalm 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.Both speak of deliverance for the needy, with Psalm 72 describing help for the poor person who has no helper.
Job 29:16–17I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him whom I didn’t know.Both make the needy a concern for those able to help; Job describes care that includes investigating a stranger’s cause.
Nehemiah 5:1–13Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews.Both concern people in distress, though Nehemiah’s opening records a complaint without specifying the wrong or naming a rescue.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. leadership weight.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Save contact details for a local abuse support service

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Encouragement

God names the danger faced by weak and needy people and commands their rescue. His demand for justice includes their safety from those who harm them.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 82:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 82 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).