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Psalm 94:6
They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
4They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast.
5They break your people in pieces, LORD, and afflict your heritage.
6They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
7They say, “The LORD will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”
8Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?
Notice
The word “murder” makes the horror plain: the widow, the alien, and the fatherless face violence from people who boast of their deeds.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to say to God about the deaths named in this verse?
Write on thisWhat do you notice about the victims named here and the killers’ claim in verse 7?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 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
Isaiah 10:2to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless …Both passages name widows and the fatherless as targets of wrongdoing, with Isaiah describing plunder and Psalm 94 describing murder.
Ezekiel 22:7In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.Both passages identify the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow as people suffering at the hands of others.
Ezekiel 22:29The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.Both passages expose harm against foreigners, though Ezekiel names oppression and robbery while Psalm 94 names killing.
Jeremiah 7:6if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your own …Jeremiah names the same groups and forbids oppression and innocent bloodshed, the violence Psalm 94 reports.
Malachi 3:5I will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who …Both name wrongdoing against the widow, the fatherless, and the foreigner; Malachi declares the LORD’s judgment against their oppressors.
Proverbs 23:10Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,Both concern harm against the fatherless, with Proverbs forbidding encroachment on their fields and Psalm 94 reporting their murder.
1 Timothy 5:3Honor widows who are widows indeed.Both name widows: Psalm 94 reports their murder, while Timothy commands honor for those who are widows indeed.
Exodus 23:9“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt.The alien appears in both passages: Exodus forbids oppression, while Psalm 94 describes violence that takes the alien’s life.
Job 22:9You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.Psalm 94 reports murder; Job 22:9 accuses its hearer of mistreating widows and the fatherless.
Psalm 10:8He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.Both psalms name murder, describing violence directed against people exposed to the schemes or force of others.
Isaiah 13:15–18Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.Both describe people being killed; Isaiah’s verse does not identify its victims as widows, aliens, or the fatherless.
Jeremiah 22:3The LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the …Jeremiah forbids violence against the same groups Psalm 94 names and commands deliverance from the oppressor.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. grief.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
There is room in prayer to name murder without softening it. Here, the deaths of the widow, the alien, and the fatherless are brought before YHWH.
Now put it in your words.
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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).