Reference: Poverty
Hastings
POVERTY
1. In the OT.
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And God spake all these words, and said, "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. read more. Thou shalt have none other gods in my sight. "Thou shalt make thee no graven image, neither any similitude that is in heaven above, either in the earth beneath, or in the water that is beneath the earth. See that thou neither bow thyself unto them neither serve them: for I, the LORD thy God, am a jealous God, and visit the sin of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and yet show mercy unto thousands among them that love me and keep my commandments. "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. "Remember the Sabbath day that thou sanctify it. Six days mayest thou labour and do all that thou hast to do: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt do no manner work: neither thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, neither thy manservant nor thy maidservant, neither thy cattle neither yet the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made both heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. "Thou shalt not kill. "Thou shalt not break wedlock. "Thou shalt not steal. "Thou shalt bear no false witness against thy neighbor. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house: neither shalt covet thy neighbor's wife, his manservant, his maid, his ox, his ass or ought that is his."
Ye shall not make therefore with me gods of silver nor gods of gold: in no wise shall ye do it.
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him, neither shalt oppress him with usury.
Thou shalt not hinder the right of the poor that are among you in their suit.
Neither shall they dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be thy decay."
But if he be not able to bring a sheep, then let him bring for his trespass which he hath sinned, two turtle doves or two young pigeons unto the LORD; one for a sin offering and another for a burnt offering.
"'And yet if he be not able to bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons, then let him bring his offering for his sin: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering, but put none oil thereto neither put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin offering.
When ye reap down the ripe corn of your land, ye shall not reap down the utmost borders of your fields, neither shalt thou gather that which is left behind in thy harvest. Thou shalt not pluck in all thy vineyard clean, neither gather in the grapes that are overscaped. But thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. I am the LORD your God. read more. "'Ye shall not steal, neither lie, neither deal falsely one with another. Ye shall not swear by my name falsely, that thou defilest not the name of thy God; I am the LORD. Thou shalt not beguile thy neighbour with cavillations, neither rob him violently, neither shall the workman's labour abide with thee until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, neither put a stumbling block before the blind: but shalt fear thy God. I am the LORD. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not favour the poor nor honour the mighty, but shalt judge thy neighbour righteously.
For the LORD your God, he is God of Gods and Lord of lords; a great God, a mighty and a terrible which regardeth no man's person nor taketh gifts: but doeth right unto the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger, to give him food and raiment. read more. Love therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers yourselves in the land of Egypt.
And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, both ye, your sons and your daughters, your servants and your maids and the Levite that is within your gates for he hath neither part nor inheritance with you.
the ostrich, the nightcrow, the cuckoo, the sparrowhawk and all her kind,
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine own city,
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine own city, and the Levite shall come because he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are within thy city, and shall eat and fill themselves: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the works of thine hand which thou doest.
For the land shall never be without poor. Wherefore I command thee, saying, 'Open thine hand unto thy brother that is needy and poor in thy land.' If thy brother, an Hebrew, sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. read more. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: but shalt give him of thy sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God delivered thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today.
and let the judges enquire a good. And if the witness be found false and that he hath given false witness against his brother,
Thou shalt be no usurer unto thy brother, neither in money nor in food, nor in any manner thing that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but not unto thy brother, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to conquer it.
If thou lend thy brother any manner succour, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge: but shalt stand without and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring thee the pledge out at the door. read more. Furthermore, if it be a poor body, go not to sleep with his pledge: but deliver him the pledge again by that the sun go down, and let him sleep in his own raiment and bless thee. And it shall be righteousness unto thee, before the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not defraud a hired servant that is needy and poor, whether he be of thy brethren or a stranger that is in thy land within thy cities. Give him his hire the same day, and let not the sun go down thereon. For he is needy and therewith sustaineth his life, lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin unto thee.
Give him his hire the same day, and let not the sun go down thereon. For he is needy and therewith sustaineth his life, lest he cry against thee unto the LORD and it be sin unto thee. The fathers shall not die for the children nor the children for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin. read more. Hinder not the right of the stranger nor of the fatherless, nor take widow's raiment to pledge. But remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt, and how the LORD thy God delivered thee thence. Wherefore I command thee to do this thing. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand. When thou beatest down thine olive trees thou shalt not make clean riddance after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the year of tithing - and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled themselves - then say before the LORD thy God, 'I have brought thee hallowed things out of mine house: and have given them unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy commandments, nor forgotten them. read more. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning nor taken away thereof unto any uncleanness, nor spent thereof about any dead corpse: but have hearkened unto the voice of the LORD my God, and have done after all that he commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation heaven and bless thy people Israel and the land which thou hast given us - as thou swearest unto our fathers - a land that floweth with milk and honey.'
And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him and said unto him, "There were two men in one city, a rich and a poor. And the rich had exceeding great abundance of sheep and oxen. read more. But the poor had nothing, save one little lamb which he bought and nourished up. And it grew up with him and his children, and did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup, and slept in his bosom, and was as dear unto him as his daughter. And there came a stranger unto the rich man. And he could not find in his heart to take of his own sheep nor of his beasts to dress for the stranger that was come unto him. But took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him." And David was exceeding wroth with the man, and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD liveth, the fellow that hath done this thing is the child of death and shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no pity."
Then spake Elisha unto the woman whose son he had restored to life again, saying, "Up, and go both thou and thine house, and sojourn where thou thinkest best, for the LORD will call a dearth which shall come on the land seven years." And the woman arose and did after the saying of the man of God, and went both she and her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. read more. And at the seven years' end, when the woman was come again out of the land of the Philistines she went out to speak to the king for her house and for her land. And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant to the man of God, saying, "Tell me I pray thee, all the great deeds which Elisha did." And it chanced, as he was telling the king how he restored a dead body to life again, that the woman whose son he revived, cried to the king for her house and her land. Then said Gehazi, "My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son which Elisha brought to life again." And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And so the king sent with her one of his chamberlains saying, "Restore all that pertaineth to her, with all the fruits of the field, since the day she left the land, unto this time." After that, Elisha went to Damascus; Benhadad the king of Syria being sick. And one told the king, saying, "The man of God is come hither."
And there arose a great complaint of the people, and of their wives, against their brethren the Jews. For there were some that said, "Our sons and daughters and we are too many, let us take corn for them to eat, that we may live." read more. Some said, "Let us set our lands, vineyards, and houses, to pledge, and take up corn in the dearth."
Some said, "Let us set our lands, vineyards, and houses, to pledge, and take up corn in the dearth." But some said, "Let us borrow money of the king's tribute for our lands and vineyards. read more. Now are our brethrens' bodies as our own bodies and their children as our children: else should we subdue our sons and daughters into bondage, and some of our daughters are subdued already, and no strength is there in our hands, and other men shall have our lands and vineyards." But when I heard their complaint and such words, it displeased me sore,
And therefore shall I lay my hand upon thee, and burn out thy dross from the finest and purest, and put out all thy lead,
Woe be unto you that join one house to another, and bring one land so nigh unto another, that the poor can get no more ground. Will ye dwell upon the earth alone?
Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.
O hear this word, ye fat cows, that be upon the hill of Samaria; yea, that do poor men wrong, and oppress the needy; yea, that say to your lords, 'Bring hither, let us drink.'
O Woe be to the proud wealthy in Zion, to such as think them so sure upon the mount of Samaria: which hold themselves for the best of the world, and rule the house of Israel, even as they list.
Woe unto them that imagine to do harm, and devise ungraciousness upon their beds, to perform it in the clear day: for their power is against God.
For he that hath been despised a little season, shall rejoice, when he seeth the tin weight in Zerubbabel's hand. The seven eyes are the LORD's, which go through the whole world.'
If it be possible, howbeit of your part, have peace with all men.
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia, to make a certain distribution upon the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
warning only that we should remember the poor, which thing also I was diligent to do.