55 Bible Verses about Poverty, Causes Of

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.
You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.”

The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. read more.
Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there. The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Because you didn’t serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though you had an abundance of everything, you will serve your enemies the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself,
and giving to the rich—both lead only to poverty.

Observe this: The Lord God of Hosts
is about to remove from Jerusalem and from Judah
every kind of security:
the entire supply of bread and water,

I gave you absolutely nothing to eat
in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.

A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.

Idle hands make one poor,
but diligent hands bring riches.

There is profit in all hard work,
but endless talk leads only to poverty.

Don’t love sleep, or you will become poor;
open your eyes, and you’ll have enough to eat.

a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.

The one who loves pleasure will become a poor man;
whoever loves wine and oil will not get rich.

For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,
but an adulteress goes after a precious life.

The one who works his land
will have plenty of food,
but whoever chases fantasies
will have his fill of poverty.

After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.

Poverty and disgrace come to those
who ignore discipline,
but the one who accepts correction will be honored.

The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit,
but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.

Don’t be one of those who enter agreements,
who put up security for loans.
If you have no money to pay,
even your bed will be taken from under you.

For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

One person gives freely,
yet gains more;
another withholds what is right,
only to become poor.

A greedy man is in a hurry for wealth;
he doesn’t know that poverty will come to him.

In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

“You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.

The uncultivated field of the poor yields abundant food,
but without justice, it is swept away.

Your land is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
foreigners devour your fields
before your very eyes—
a desolation demolished by foreigners.

Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.”’

In this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field since the famine was so severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph moved the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” read more.
He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “A lightning storm struck from heaven. It burned up the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of Yahweh.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams of water, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

You who are His holy ones, fear Yahweh,
for those who fear Him lack nothing.
Young lions lack food and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord
will not lack any good thing.

I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.

One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”

But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate.

for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city;
the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.

Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty
and remember his trouble no more.

People don’t despise the thief if he steals
to satisfy himself when he is hungry.

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
Otherwise, I might have too much
and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?”
or I might have nothing and steal,
profaning the name of my God.

It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I could learn Your statutes.

For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she possessed—all she had to live on.”

For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity.

Listen, my dear brothers: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?

I know your affliction and poverty, yet you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

For you sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.

And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

as grieving yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing yet possessing everything.