68 Bible Verses about Poverty, Attitudes Towards

If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers inside any of your gates in your land which Jehovah your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him enough for his need, that which he lacks.

Whoever scorns the poor reviles his Maker; he who is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

distributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.

So then as we have time, let us work good toward all, especially toward those of the household of faith.

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and if one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them those things which are needful to the body, what good is it?

But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother having need, and shuts up his bowels from him, how does the love of God dwell in him?

You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his cause.

And if your brother has become poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall help him; yes, even if he is a stranger or a tenant, so that he may live with you. You shall take no interest from him, or increase. But you shall fear your God, so that your brother may live with you. You shall not give him your silver on interest, nor lend him your food for increase.

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, of your brothers, or of your strangers that are in your land within your gates. At his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it. For he is poor and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Jehovah, and it shall be sin to you.

And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said to him, There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor. The rich one had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor one had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished up. And it grew up together with him and with his sons. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter.read more.
And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the traveler that had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man who had come to him.

Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, why do those who know Him not see His days? They remove the landmarks; they seize flocks and feed them. They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.read more.
They turn the needy out of the way; the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor; nor press down the afflicted in the gate;

The righteous knows the plea of the poor; the wicked cares not to know it.

And say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates. So says Jehovah, Do judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressors's hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

And if he fathers a son who is violent, who sheds blood, and who does to a brother any of these; even if he does do not any of these himself, but his son has, but has even eaten on the mountains, and has defiled his neighbor's wife; has ill-treated the poor and needy; thieving, he stole; has not given back the pledge; and has lifted up his eyes to the idols; has committed abomination;read more.
has loaned on usury; and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live! He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.

So says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea for four, I will not turn away from it; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek. And a man and his father will go in to the same woman, to defile My holy name.

And do not crush the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor. And do not devise evil in your heart, of a man against his brother.

For if there comes a gold-fingered man in fancy clothing into your assembly, and if there also comes in a poor man in shabby clothing, and if you have respect to him who has the fancy clothing and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor, You stand there, or sit here under my footstool; Did you not make a difference among yourselves and became judges with evil thoughts?

At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up inside your gates. And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

But the seventh year you shall let it rest and let it alone, so that the poor of your people may eat. And what they leave, the animals of the field shall eat. In the same way you shall deal with your vineyard and with your oliveyard.

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field. And you shall not gather the gleaning of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard. And you shall not gather the leavings of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am Jehovah your God.

You shall not reap that which grows of its own accord of your harvest, neither gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It is a year of rest to the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for you and for your servant, and for your slave woman and for your hired servant, and for your stranger who stays with you,

He who has pity upon the poor lends to Jehovah, and He will reward his dealing to him.

Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; save them out of the hand of the wicked.

For the ear heard and blessed me. And the eye saw me and witnessed to me. For I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of the perishing came on me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing.read more.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my judgment was like a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I did not know, I searched out. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

He answered and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. And he who has food, let him do likewise.

And in Joppa was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called Dorcas). She was full of good works and kind deeds which she did.

Beware that there is not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye may be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing. And he may cry to Jehovah against you, and it is sin to you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing Jehovah your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to. For the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore, I command you saying, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.

And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

And Boaz said to her, At mealtime come here and eat of the bread and dip your bit in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers. And he handed her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied, and left.

He has scattered abroad; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn shall be lifted up with honor.

But Nebuzaradan, the chief of the executioners, left some of the poor people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

And Zaccheus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor. And in anything I accused anyone falsely, I restore it fourfold.

one devout and fearing God, with all his household, both doing many merciful deeds to the people, and praying continually to God.

Each one, as he purposes in his heart, let him give; not of grief, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Therefore when you do your merciful deeds, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

Then Jesus called His disciples and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they continue with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

In those days, the crowd being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, I have compassion on the crowd because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way. For many of them come from afar.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

For some thought, because Judas had the moneybag, that Jesus had said to him, Buy what we have need of for the feast; or that he should give something to the poor.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good, and healing all those who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him.

And all who believed were together and had all things common. And they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.

And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. And not one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own. But they had all things common. And the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power. And great grace was on them all. For neither was anyone needy among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold,read more.
and they laid them down at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made to every man according as he had need.

And the disciples, as any were prospered, determined each of them to send for ministry to those brothers who lived in Judea, which they also did, sending to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

I have shown you all things, that working in this way we ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

And after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation.

But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Truly it has pleased them, and they are their debtors. For if the nations have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in fleshly things.

For it is not that others may have ease, but you trouble; but by equality in the present time; your abundance for their need, that their abundance also may be for your need; so that there may be equality; as it is written, "He gathering much, he had nothing left over; and he gathering little did not have less."

Only they asked that we remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Blessed is he who acts wisely toward the poor; Jehovah will deliver him in time of trouble.

He who gives to the poor shall not lack, but he who hides his eyes shall have many a curse.

Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.

For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, He shall not lose his reward.

But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger in giving him food and clothing.

You have seen it; for You behold mischief and vexation, to repay it with Your hand. The poor commits himself to You; You are the Helper of the fatherless.

Jehovah preserves the strangers; He relieves the orphan and widow, but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

Do not remove the old landmarks, and do not enter into the fields of the fatherless;

to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to steal the right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and they rob the orphans!

And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your slave girl, and the Levite inside your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, those among you, in the place which Jehovah your God has chosen to place His name there.

And Boaz said, In the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy also from the hand of Ruth of Moab, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead. And you know that your servant feared Jehovah. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.

You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

And I will come near you to judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those who extort from the hired laborer's wages, and turning away the widow, and the orphan, the alien, and not fearing Me, says Jehovah of Hosts.

And in those days, the disciples having multiplied, a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews occurred, because their widows were overlooked in the daily serving.

Honor widows who are widows indeed.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.