68 Bible Verses about Poverty, Attitudes Towards

If there shall be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD the God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

He that mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker; and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.

If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you sayeth to them, Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

But he who hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

And if thy brother shall have become poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he may be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no interest of him, or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he should cry against thee to the LORD, and it be sin to thee.

And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had very numerous flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished: and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it fed of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as 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 way-faring man that had come to him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that had come to him.

Why, seeing times are not hid from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? Some remove the landmarks: they violently take away flocks, and their feed. 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.

Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter by these gates: Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver him that is laid waste out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

If he begetteth a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath stripped by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination.read more.
Hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away their punishment: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in to the same maid, to profane my holy name:

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

For if there come into your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say to him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.

But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive-yard.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest, thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest to the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.read more.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I broke the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

He answereth and saith to them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath provisions, let him do likewise.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, who by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did.

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thy eye shall be evil against thy poor brother, and thou shalt give him naught; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest to him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thy hand to. For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.

And Boaz said to her, At meal-time come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left.

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.

But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

And Zaccheus stood, and said to the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.

A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or by constraint: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Therefore, when thou doest thy alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Verily, I say to you, they have their reward.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples, and saith to them, I have compassion on the multitude, 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 by the way: for some of them came from a distance.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said to him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

That God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him.

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that was in want: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,read more.
And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made to every man according as he had need.

Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea. Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

I have shown you all things, that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

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

But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in carnal things.

For I mean not that other men should be eased, and you burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no want.

Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in the time of trouble.

He that giveth to the poor shall not want: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

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

Then will the King say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and ye gave me food: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came to me.

For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

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

He executeth the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself to thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant feared the LORD: and the creditor hath come to take to him my two sons to be bond-men.

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

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Honor widows that are widows indeed.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.