That the widow and orphans ought to be protected.

113. That the widow and orphans ought to be protected.

In Solomon: “Be merciful to the orphans as a father, and as a husband to their mother; and thou shalt be the son of the Highest if thou shalt obey.”⁴⁶¹⁸ Also in Exodus: “Ye shall not afflict any widow and orphan. But if ye afflict them, and they cry out and call unto me, I will hear their cryings, and will be angry in mind against you; and I will destroy you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children orphans.”⁴⁶¹⁹  Also in Isaiah: “Judge for the fatherless, and justify the widow; and come let us reason, saith the Lord.”⁴⁶²⁰ Also in Job: “I have preserved the poor man from the hand of the mighty, and I have helped the fatherless who had no helper: the mouth of the widow hath blessed me.”⁴⁶²¹ Also in the sixty-seventh Psalm: “The Father of the orphans, and the Judge of the widows.”⁴⁶²²