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\(^3\) Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. \(^4\) For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. \(^5\) But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

The prophets call for justice over and over again. Jeremiah is desperate to make Israel understand that the Lord takes justice very seriously. He cares about the poor, the lonely, the oppressed. It is hard to think of anything God seems to take such great offense at as oppression of the weak.

Besides the prohibitions there is also the exhortation to ‘deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed’. How does one do this? The situations where this applies will vary but it must be a call to be generous towards the oppressed.

\(^{13}\)“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
\(^{14}\)who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
…
\(^{17}\)But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”

So often oppression is motivated by greed. This passage outlines very succinctly the kind of wealth God approves of and the kind he doesn’t. God can’t stand ‘dishonest’ gain, trampling over others, stealing, denying others. God actually loves abundance but it should be gained honestly, by creating wealth, not by pilfering it, and it should be shared, especially with honest workers.