Proverbs 30:14
There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
Cross-reference
Proverbs 28:3 depicts a poor man who oppresses the poor – a specific instance of the broader pattern of devouring the needy described here.
Proverbs 22:16 warns against oppressing the poor for gain – the same sin that the 'generation with teeth as swords' commits.
Proverbs 12:18 uses the same 'sword' metaphor for harmful words, emphasizing that speech can wound like blades.
In Proverbs 1:11, violent men ambush the innocent — same book's warning against those who prey on others.
In James 5:1-4, the wealthy who defraud laborers face judgment — mirroring the condemnation of those who 'devour the poor' here.
Zephaniah 3:3 likens judges to wolves that gnaw bones — similar predatory imagery devouring the poor.
Micah 3:1-5 speaks of rulers who 'eat the flesh' of God's people — directly parallels teeth/swords devouring the poor.
Amos 8:4 uses 'swallow up the needy' — directly parallels the devouring imagery of Proverbs 30:14.
Amos 4:1 calls out those who oppress the poor and crush the needy — direct parallel to devouring them.
Ecclesiastes 4:1 laments tears of the oppressed with no comforter – the same reality of powerful oppressors crushing the poor that Proverbs describes.
Psalm 58:6 prays for God to break the teeth of the wicked – directly mirroring the 'teeth as swords' imagery used against the poor in Proverbs.
Psalm 57:4 explicitly says 'their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords,' mirroring the predatory language almost exactly.
Psalm 52:2 compares the tongue to a sharp razor, paralleling the sword/fangs metaphor for destructive speech.
Psalm 14:4 asks if evildoers have no knowledge, who 'eat up my people as they eat bread' – a direct parallel to devouring the poor.
Psalm 12:5 records God's promise to arise against the oppression of the poor and needy – the exact situation this generation creates.
Psalm 10:9 continues the theme: the wicked lie in wait like a lion to catch the poor – the same predatory oppression of the needy.
Psalm 10:8 describes the wicked lurking to murder the innocent and set against the poor – directly parallel to the generation that devours the poor.
Psalm 3:7 prays for God to break the teeth of the wicked, directly addressing the same predatory imagery and invoking divine judgment.
Job 29:17 mentions breaking the fangs of the unrighteous, showing the opposite action—justice against the predatory teeth pictured here.
Habakkuk 2:5 uses the same 'never satisfied' imagery of death/greed devouring nations — parallel to the generation with teeth like swords.
In Job 24:4, the needy are pushed aside — same theme of oppressing the poor as this verse's devouring imagery.
Isaiah 32:7 describes the churl devising wicked devices to destroy the poor — same oppression of the needy as the devouring generation.
Amos 2:7 condemns those who pant after the dust of the poor and turn aside the meek — similar exploitation of the needy.
Micah 2:2 describes violent seizure of fields and houses — oppressing the poor like the devouring generation.
In Job 4:10, the wicked's teeth are broken — a fitting judgment for the devouring generation described here.
In Psalm 64:3, the wicked sharpen their tongue like a sword — similar weapon imagery for harming others.