Break in Case of Emergency

You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;

    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

You gave no water to the weary

    and you withheld food from the hungry,

though you were a powerful man, owning land—

    an honored man, living on it.

And you sent widows away empty-handed

    and broke the strength of the fatherless.

That is why snares are all around you,

    why sudden peril terrifies you,

why it is so dark you cannot see,

    and why a flood of water covers you.

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!