Bible Verses About Justice

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

The prophet Amos is speaking to a people who observed religious festivals while exploiting the poor. This verse is his answer to their worship.

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Four specific groups: the oppressed, the orphan, the widow. These are not abstractions — they are the most vulnerable people in any society.

Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. This is not optional — it is a command.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Do justly — not feel justice, not believe in justice. Do it. The verb is active.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

This is Jesus describing his own mission — in his own words, at the start of his ministry. The poor. The captive. The bruised. This is what he came to do.