40 Bible Verses about Benevolence

'When there is with thee any needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy cities, in thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother; for thou dost certainly open thy hand to him, and dost certainly lend him sufficient for his lack which he lacketh. Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart -- worthless, saying, Near is the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin;read more.
thou dost certainly give to him, and thy heart is not sad in thy giving to him, for because of this thing doth Jehovah thy God bless thee in all thy works, and in every putting forth of thy hand; because the needy one doth not cease out of the land, therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Thou dost certainly open thy hand to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy one, in thy land. When thy brother is sold to thee, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he hath served thee six years -- then in the seventh year thou dost send him away free from thee. And when thou dost send him away free from thee, thou dost not send him away empty; thou dost certainly encircle him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-vat; of that which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou dost give to him, and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee; therefore I am commanding thee this thing to-day.

And lo, a man, an aged one, hath come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man is of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he is a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place are Benjamites. And he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the man, the traveller, in a broad place of the city, and the aged man saith, 'Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?' And he saith unto him, 'We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah unto the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim -- thence I am, and I go unto Beth-Lehem-Judah; and to the house of Jehovah I am going, and there is no man gathering me into the house,read more.
and both straw and provender are for our asses, and also bread and wine there are for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man with thy servants; there is no lack of anything.' And the old man saith, 'Peace to thee; only, all thy lack is on me, only in the broad place lodge not.' And he bringeth him in to his house, and mixeth food for the asses, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink.

And David saith to him, 'Be not afraid; for I certainly do with thee kindness because of Jonathan thy father, and have given back to thee all the field of Saul thy father, and thou dost eat bread at my table continually.'

'And to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite thou dost do kindness, and they have been among those eating at thy table, for so they drew near unto me in my fleeing from the face of Absalom thy brother.

and say to them, 'We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that is in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word. And I say, 'Not good is the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies? And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury.read more.
Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.' And they say, 'We give back, and of them we seek nothing; so we do as thou art saying.' And I call the priests, and cause them to swear to do according to this thing;

And he saith to them, 'Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day is holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.' And the Levites are keeping all the people silent, saying, 'Be silent, for to-day is holy, and be not grieved.'

For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth to me. For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper. The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing.read more.
Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice. Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame am I. A father I am to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out. And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.

If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume, And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it, (But from my youth He grew up with me as with a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)read more.
If I see any perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy, If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself, If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in him the gate of my court, My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken. For a dread unto me is calamity from God, And because of His excellency I am not able.

To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. O the happiness of him Who is acting wisely unto the poor, In a day of evil doth Jehovah deliver him.

He hath scattered -- hath given to the needy, His righteousness is standing for ever, His horn is exalted with honour.

Withhold not good from its owners, When thy hand is toward God to do it. Say not thou to thy friend, 'Go, and return, and to-morrow I give,' And substance with thee.

A liberal soul is made fat, And whoso is watering, he also is watered.

The good of eye -- he is blessed, For he hath given of his bread to the poor.

If he who is hating thee doth hunger, cause him to eat bread, And if he thirst, cause him to drink water.

Whoso is giving to the poor hath no lack, And whoso is hiding his eyes multiplied curses.

To meet the thirsty brought water have Inhabitants of the land of Tema, With his bread they came before a fugitive.

Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself?

And dost bring out to the hungry thy soul, And the afflicted soul dost satisfy, Then risen in the darkness hath thy light, And thy thick darkness is as noon.

A man -- he doth not oppress, His pledge to the debtor he doth return, Plunder he doth not take away, His bread to the hungry he doth give, And the naked doth cover with a garment,

to him who is asking of thee be giving, and him who is willing to borrow from thee thou mayest not turn away.

Jesus said to him, 'If thou dost will to be perfect, go away, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'

for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me; naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me. 'Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? or thirsting, and we gave to drink?read more.
and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around? and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee? And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did it to one of these my brethren -- the least -- to me ye did it. Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers; for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink; a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me. 'Then shall they answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of these, the least, ye did it not to me.

for whoever may give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because ye are Christ's, verily I say to you, he may not lose his reward;

and he answering saith to them, 'He having two coats -- let him impart to him having none, and he having victuals -- in like manner let him do.'

'But a certain Samaritan, journeying, came along him, and having seen him, he was moved with compassion, and having come near, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and having lifted him up on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and was careful of him; and on the morrow, going forth, taking out two denaries, he gave to the innkeeper, and said to him, Be careful of him, and whatever thou mayest spend more, I, in my coming again, will give back to thee.

But what ye have give ye as alms, and, lo, all things are clean to you.

And Zaccheus having stood, said unto the Lord, 'Lo, the half of my goods, sir, I give to the poor, and if of any one anything I did take by false accusation, I give back fourfold.'

and all those believing were at the same place, and had all things common, and the possessions and the goods they were selling, and were parting them to all, according as any one had need. Daily also continuing with one accord in the temple, breaking also at every house bread, they were partaking of food in gladness and simplicity of heart,

and of the multitude of those who did believe the heart and the soul was one, and not one was saying that anything of the things he had was his own, but all things were to them in common. And with great power were the apostles giving the testimony to the rising again of the Lord Jesus, great grace also was on them all, for there was not any one among them who did lack, for as many as were possessors of fields, or houses, selling them, were bringing the prices of the thing sold,read more.
and were laying them at the feet of the apostles, and distribution was being made to each according as any one had need. And Joses, who was surnamed by the apostles Barnabas -- which is, having been interpreted, Son of Comfort -- a Levite, of Cyprus by birth, a field being his, having sold it, brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

And in these days, the disciples multiplying, there came a murmuring of the Hellenists at the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily ministration,

And in Joppa there was a certain female disciple, by name Tabitha, (which interpreted, is called Dorcas,) this woman was full of good works and kind acts that she was doing; and it came to pass in those days she, having ailed, died, and having bathed her, they laid her in an upper chamber, and Lydda being nigh to Joppa, the disciples having heard that Peter is in that place, sent two men unto him, calling on him not to delay to come through unto them.read more.
And Peter having risen, went with them, whom having come, they brought into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing coats and garments, as many as Dorcas was making while she was with them.

pious, and fearing God with all his house, doing also many kind acts to the people, and beseeching God always,

and he having looked earnestly on him, and becoming afraid, said, 'What is it, Lord?' And he said to him, 'Thy prayers and thy kind acts came up for a memorial before God,

and the disciples, according as any one was prospering, determined each of them to send for ministration to the brethren dwelling in Judea,

for it pleased Macedonia and Achaia well to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who are in Jerusalem; for it pleased well, and their debtors they are, for if in their spiritual things the nations did participate, they ought also, in the fleshly things, to minister to them.

and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing.

And concerning the collection that is for the saints, as I directed to the assemblies of Galatia, so also ye -- do ye; on every first day of the week, let each one of you lay by him, treasuring up whatever he may have prospered, that when I may come then collections may not be made; and whenever I may come, whomsoever ye may approve, through letters, these I will send to carry your favour to Jerusalem;

And we make known to you, brethren, the grace of God, that hath been given in the assemblies of Macedonia, because in much trial of tribulation the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, did abound to the riches of their liberality; because, according to their power, I testify, and above their power, they were willing of themselves,read more.
with much entreaty calling on us to receive the favour and the fellowship of the ministration to the saints, and not according as we expected, but themselves they did give first to the Lord, and to us, through the will of God, so that we exhorted Titus, that, according as he did begin before, so also he may finish to you also this favour, but even as in every thing ye do abound, in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all diligence, and in your love to us, that also in this grace ye may abound; not according to command do I speak, but because of the diligence of others, and of your love proving the genuineness, for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that because of you he became poor -- being rich, that ye by that poverty may become rich. and an opinion in this do I give: for this to you is expedient, who not only to do, but also to will, did begin before -- a year ago, and now also finish doing it, that even as there is the readiness of the will, so also the finishing, out of that which ye have, for if the willing mind is present, according to that which any one may have it is well-accepted, not according to that which he hath not; for not that for others release, and ye pressured, do I speak, but by equality, at the present time your abundance -- for their want, that also their abundance may be for your want, that there may be equality, according as it hath been written, 'He who did gather much, had nothing over; and he who did gather little, had no lack.'

the shewing therefore of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf, to them shew ye, even in the face of the assemblies.

For, indeed, concerning the ministration that is for the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you,