40 Bible Verses about Benevolence

If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him; But let your hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of. And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you.read more.
But it is right for you to give to him, without grief of heart: for because of this, the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all your work and on everything to which you put your hand. For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so I give orders to you, Let your hand be open to your countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in your land. If one of your countrymen, a Hebrew man or woman, becomes your servant for a price and does work for you six years, in the seventh year let him go free. And when you make him free, do not let him go away with nothing in his hands: But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine: in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given you, you are to give to him. And keep in mind that you yourself were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: so I give you this order today.

Now when it was evening they saw an old man coming back from his work in the fields; he was from the hill-country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he saw the traveller in the street of the town, the old man said, Where are you going? and where do you come from? And he said to him, We are on our way from Beth-lehem-judah to the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim: I came from there and went to Beth-lehem-judah: now I am on my way back to my house, but no man will take me into his house.read more.
But we have dry grass and food for our asses, as well as bread and wine for me, and for the woman, and for the young man with us: we have no need of anything. And the old man said, Peace be with you; let all your needs be my care; only do not take your rest in the street. So he took them into his house and gave the asses food; and after washing their feet they took food and drink.

And David said to him, Have no fear: for truly I will be good to you, because of your father Jonathan, and I will give back to you all the land which was Saul's; and you will have a place at my table at all times.

But be good to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be guests at your table; for so they came to me when I went in flight from Absalom your brother.

And I said to them, We have given whatever we were able to give, to make our brothers the Jews free, who were servants and prisoners of the nations: and would you now give up your brothers for a price, and are they to become our property? Then they said nothing, answering not a word. And I said, What you are doing is not good: is it not the more necessary for you to go in the fear of our God, because of the shame which the nations may put on us? Even I and my servants have been taking interest for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give up this thing.read more.
Give back to them this very day their fields, their vine-gardens, their olive-gardens, and their houses, as well as a hundredth part of the money and the grain and the wine and the oil which you have taken from them. Then they said, We will give them back, and take nothing for them; we will do as you say. Then I sent for the priests and made them take an oath that they would keep this agreement.

Then he said to them, Go away now, and take the fat for your food and the sweet for your drink, and send some to him for whom nothing is made ready: for this day is holy to our Lord: and let there be no grief in your hearts; for the joy of the Lord is your strong place. So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy; and do not give way to grief.

For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me; For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.read more.
I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.

If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose; If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father; (For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)read more.
If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him; If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm; If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges; May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base. For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.

Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble.

He has given with open hands to the poor; his righteousness is for ever; his horn will be lifted up with honour.

Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Say not to your neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when you have it by you at the time.

He who gives blessing will be made fat, but the curser will himself be cursed.

He who is kind will have a blessing, for he gives of his bread to the poor.

If your hater is in need of food, give him bread; and if he is in need of drink, give him water:

He who gives to the poor will never be in need, but great curses will be on him who gives no attention to them.

Give water to him who is in need of water; give bread, O men of the land of Tema, to those in flight.

Is it not to give your bread to those in need, and to let the poor who have no resting-place come into your house? to put a robe on the unclothed one when you see him, and not to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing his flesh?

And if you give your bread to those in need of it, so that the troubled one may have his desire; then you will have light in the dark, and your night will be as the full light of the sun:

And has done no wrong to any, but has given back to the debtor what is his, and has taken no one's goods by force, and has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;

Give to him who comes with a request, and keep not your property from him who would for a time make use of it.

Jesus said to him, If you have a desire to be complete, go, get money for your property, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come after me.

For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in; I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me. Then will the upright make answer to him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food, and give it to you? or in need of drink, and give it to you?read more.
And when did we see you wandering, and take you in? or without clothing, and give it to you? And when did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you? And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Then will he say to those on the left, Go from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which is ready for the Evil One and his angels: For I was in need of food, and you gave it not to me; I was in need of drink, and you gave it not to me: I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me. Then will they make answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food or drink, or wandering, or without clothing, or ill, or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then will he make answer to them, saying, Truly I say to you, Because you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.

Whoever gives you a cup of water, because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will in no way be without his reward.

And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him, And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him. And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed.

But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you.

And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.

And all those who were of the faith kept together, and had all things in common; And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need. And day by day, going in agreement together regularly to the Temple and, taking broken bread together in their houses, they took their food with joy and with true hearts,

And all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they had all things in common. And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all. And no one among them was in need; for everyone who had land or houses, exchanging them for money, took the price of them,read more.
And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need. And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth, Having a field, got money for it and put the money at the feet of the Apostles.

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times. And it came about, in those days, that she got ill and came to her death: and when she had been washed, they put her in a room which was high up. And because Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having knowledge that Peter was there, sent two men to him, requesting him to come to them straight away.read more.
And Peter went with them. And when he had come, they took him into the room: and all the widows were there, weeping and putting before him the coats and clothing which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.

And he, looking on him in fear, said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your offerings have come up to God, and he has kept them in mind.

And the disciples, everyone as he was able, made a decision to send help to the brothers living in Judaea:

For it has been the good pleasure of those of Macedonia and Achaia to send a certain amount of money for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. Yes, it has been their good pleasure; and they are in their debt. For if the Gentiles have had a part in the things of the Spirit which were theirs, it is right for them, in the same way, to give them help in the things of the flesh.

And if I give all my goods to the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it is of no profit to me.

Now about the giving of money for the saints, as I gave orders to the churches of Galatia, so do you. On the first day of the week, let every one of you put by him in store, in measure as he has done well in business, so that it may not be necessary to get money together when I come. And when I come, I will send the men of your selection with letters to take the money you have got together to Jerusalem.

And now we give you news, brothers, about the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia; How while they were undergoing every sort of trouble, and were in the greatest need, they took all the greater joy in being able to give freely to the needs of others. For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts,read more.
Seriously requesting us that they might have a part in this grace of being servants to the needs of the saints: And going even farther than our hope, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us after the purpose of God. So that we made a request to Titus that, as he had made a start before, so he might make this grace complete in you. And that as you are full of every good thing, of faith, of the word, of knowledge, of a ready mind, and of love to us, so you may be full of this grace in the same way. I am not giving you an order, but using the ready mind of others as a test of the quality of your love. For you see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he had wealth, he became poor on your account, so that through his need you might have wealth. And in this I give my opinion: for it is to your profit, who were the first to make a start a year before, not only to do this, but to make clear that your minds were more than ready to do it. Then make the doing of it complete; so that as you had a ready mind, you may give effect to it as you are able. For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not. And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you: But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal. As it says in the Writings, He who had taken up much had nothing over and he who had little had enough.

Make clear then to them, as representatives of the churches, the quality of your love, and that the things which we have said about you are true.

But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints: