James Baldwin tells us that “ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
One proof of Baldwin’s theory is that many Americans believe that the Bible is skeptical of social justice, or even outright hostile to it. You can see this in how many Americans criticize poor people with lines like “God helps those who helps themselves” — a quote that does not appear anywhere in the Bible. When pressed for a favorite verse, President Donald Trump offered up “an eye for an eye” — a sentiment Jesus condemned in Matthew 5:38-39.
Some people with a low opinion of social justice advocacy try to bend the Bible to agree to their criticisms. But while many parts of the Bible leave room for healthy debate and nuance, it is very clear about justice.
In fact, justice is one of the Bible’s major themes. Both the Old and New Testament spend lots of time talking about the importance of treating the poor with dignity, welcoming immigrants with generosity, and paying workers a living wage. These stances may be seen as divisive or partisan in our politicized era, but the Bible just calls it righteousness.
There are countless verses, stories, and parables in the Bible that stress the importance of justice. Here are 20 Bible verses about social justice to get you started. How is God calling you to get involved in the fight for justice today?
Micah 6:8
“God has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
This verse reminds us that justice, humility, and love are not modern inventions — they are expectations that God has always had for people.
Isaiah 1:17
“Learn to do good; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
In the Bible, justice is more than having the right opinions. It’s something we actively do.
Amos 5:24
“But let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
In the Bible, justice is not something to be divvied out to people we think deserve it or screened to be as stingy as possible.
Proverbs 31:8-9
“Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out; judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Advocacy work is a biblical command. We are called to be a voice for the voiceless.
Jeremiah 22:3
“Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.”
God cares deeply about how nations treat immigrants, orphans, and widows.
Isaiah 58:6
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”
Without a commitment to liberation, our religious rituals and practices are hollow.
Zechariah 7:9–10
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”
As far as God is concerned, justice that does not include society’s most vulnerable groups is not true justice.
Psalm 82:3–4
“Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
There is more to justice than just being nice to the marginalized. We are called to actively defend and, when necessary, rescue them from oppression.
Leviticus 19:15
“‘You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.”
God’s justice transcends wealth and status. In the Kingdom of Heaven, everyone is treated equally.
Deuteronomy 16:20
“Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
Here, God ties justice to survival. A society that does not prioritize justice won’t last long.
Luke 4:18–19
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
This is Jesus’ mission statement: his declaration at the beginning of his public ministry, in which he declares that God sent him to the forgotten and marginalized.
James 5:4
“Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.”
God cares about how employers treat the people who work for them. Paying workers poorly disobeys God.
Matthew 25:40
“And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”
Jesus personally identifies with the oppressed. Taking care of other people isn’t just a nice idea — it’s where we meet Jesus on earth.
Leviticus 23:22
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.”
There is more to taking care of the poor than just individual responsibility. God weaves charity into the national economic plan.
Proverbs 14:31
“Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor God.”
How we treat the poor is how we treat God. Justice for those in need is an act of worship.
Isaiah 10:1-2
“Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans!”
Justice isn’t only an individual issue. God condemns unjust legislation and laws that oppress vulnerable communities.
Romans 12:15
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”
Justice begins with empathy. Solidarity must be rooted in compassion.
Galatians 3:28
“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
God’s vision of community is radical, crossing every conceivable divide and social status.
Acts 2:44-45
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
The early church practiced a just sharing of economic resources.
Job 29:14-16
“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger.”
For Job, justice wasn’t extra credit; it was a way of life.
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