You asked

in a globalized world, how do we identify those we have a special obligation to protect from exploitation?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Deuteronomy 24:17-18

““You shall not deprive the foreigner, or the fatherless, of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing as security; but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you from there: therefore I command you to do this thing.””

This passage is part of a larger collection of laws given to the people of Israel by Moses, intended to establish a just and compassionate society as they settled in their land. It specifically addresses how they are to treat vulnerable members of their community.

How might remembering our own experiences of vulnerability shape our responsibility toward others who are exploited today?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Leviticus 19:33-34
Commanding love for the foreigner, equating them with native-born citizens.
Isaiah 1:17
Calling for justice for the oppressed, defending the fatherless, and pleading for the widow.
Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus's teaching on serving 'the least of these' as serving him, including strangers and those in need.

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