55 Bible Verses about Poverty, Causes Of

And unto Adam he said, "Forasmuch as thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying 'See thou eat not thereof' cursed be the earth for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat thereof all days of thy life: and it shall bear thorns and thistles unto thee. And thou shalt eat the herbs of the field: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return unto the earth whence thou wast taken: for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return."

And the LORD God made to spring out of the earth, all manner trees beautiful to the sight and pleasant to eat; and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And there sprung a river out of Eden to water the garden, and thence divided itself, and grew into four principal waters. The name of the one is Pishon; he it is that compasseth all the land of Havilah, where gold groweth.read more.
And the gold of that country is precious; there is found bdellium and a stone called Onyx. The name of the second river is Gihon, which compasseth all the land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel, which runneth on the east side of the Assyrians; And the fourth river is Euphrates.

And because thou servedest not the LORD thy God with joyfulness and with a good heart for the abundance of all things, therefore thou shalt serve thine enemy which the LORD shall send upon thee: in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and in need of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thine neck, until he have brought thee to nought.

Whoso doth a poor man wrong, to increase his own riches, and giveth unto the rich to please him, at the last cometh to poverty himself.

For lo, shall the LORD God of Hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and Judah all possessions and power, all meat and drink,

"'Therefore have I given you idle teeth in all your cities, and scarceness of bread in all your places: yet will ye not turn unto me,' sayeth the LORD.

Forsomuch then as ye oppress the poor, and rob him of his best sustenance: therefore, where as ye have builded houses of square stone, ye shall not dwell in them. Marvelous pleasant vineyards shall ye plant; but the wine of them shall ye not drink. And why?

Yea, sleep on still a little, slumber a little, fold thy hands together yet a little, that thou mayest sleep: so shall poverty come unto thee as one that travaileth by the way, and necessity like a weaponed man.

An idle hand maketh poor; but a quick laboring hand maketh rich.

In every labour there is some profit; but only vain words bringeth forth penury.

Delight not thou in sleep, lest thou come to poverty; but open thine eyes, and thou shalt have bread enough.

Yea, sleep on still a little, slumber a little, fold thine hands together yet a little; so shall poverty come unto thee as one that travaileth by the way, and necessity like a weaponed man.

He that hath pleasure in banquets, shall be a poor man; Whoso delighteth in wine and delicates, shall not be rich.

A harlot will make a man to beg his bread, but a married woman will hunt for the precious life.

He that tilleth his land, shall have plenteousness of bread; but he that followeth idleness, shall have poverty enough.

And when he had spent all that he had, there rose a great dearth throughout all that same land. And he began to lack.

He that thinketh scorn to be reformed, cometh to poverty and shame; but whoso receiveth correction, shall come to honour.

The devices of one that is diligent, bring plenteousness; but he that is unadvised, cometh to poverty.

Be not thou one of them that bind their hand upon promise, and are surety for debt; for if thou hast nothing to pay, they shall take away thy bed from under thee.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain King, which would take accounts of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents: Whom, because he had nought to pay, his Master commanded him to be sold: and his wife, and his children, and all that he had; and payment to be made.

Some man giveth out his goods, and is richer; but the niggard, having enough, will depart from nothing, and yet is ever in poverty.

He that will be rich all too soon, hath an evil eye; and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

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

Ye looked for much, and lo it is come to little: and though ye bring it home, yet do I blow it away. And why so, sayeth the LORD of Hosts? Even because that my house lieth so waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

And so was Israel exceedingly impoverished by the Midianites and cried unto the LORD.

And why? He hath oppressed the poor, and not helped them: houses hath he spoiled, and not builded them.

There is plenteousness of food in the fields of the poor; and shall be increased out of measure.

Your land lieth waste, your cities are burnt up, your enemies devour your land, and ye must be fain to stand, and look upon it: and it is desolate, as it were with enemies in a battle.

Behold, the hire of the laborers which have reaped down your fields - which hire is of you kept back by fraud - crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

There will I make provision for thee: for there remain yet five years of dearth, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast perish.'

And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. For the Egyptians sold every man his land because the dearth was sore upon them: and so the land became Pharaoh's. And he appointed the people unto the cities, from one side of Egypt unto the other:

Now upon a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating, and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, there came a messenger unto Job, and said, "While the oxen were a plowing, and the asses going in the pasture beside them, the Sabeans came in violently, and took them all away: yea, they have slain thy servants with the sword, and I only ran my way, to tell thee."read more.
And while he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The fire of God is fallen from heaven, it hath consumed, and burnt up all thy sheep and servants: and I only ran my way, to tell thee." In the mean season while he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three armies, and fell upon thy camels, which they have carried away: yea, and slain thy servants with the sword, and I only am gotten away, to tell thee." While he was speaking, there came yet another, and said, "Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and suddenly there came a mighty great wind out of the South, and smote the four corners of the house: which fell upon thy children, so that they are dead, and I alone am gotten away, to tell thee." Then Job stood up, and rent his clothes, shaved his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I turn thither again. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; now blessed be the name of the LORD."

For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of rivers of water, of fountains and of springs that spring out both in valleys and hills: a land of wheat and of barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees with oil and of honey: a land wherein thou shalt not eat bread in scarceness, and where thou shalt lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou shalt dig brass.

O fear the LORD, ye that are his saints: for they that fear him lack nothing. The lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they who seek the LORD shall want no manner of thing that is good.

I have been young, and now am old; and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.

And there cried a certain woman of the wives of the children of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, "Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD. And the creditor is come to fetch my two sons, to be his bondmen."

And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which lay at his gate full of sores,

For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia, to make a certain distribution upon the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.

And Jesus said unto him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of the man hath not whereon to rest his head."

The rich man's goods are his stronghold; but poverty oppresseth the poor.

The steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master will take away from me the stewardship. I cannot dig, and to beg, I am ashamed.

that they may drink it, and forget their misery and adversity.

Men do not utterly despise a thief, that stealeth to satisfy his soul, when he is hungry:

Remove from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches, only grant me a necessary living. Lest I be so full, I deny thee, and say, "What fellow is the LORD?" And lest I, being constrained through poverty, fall unto stealing and foreswear the name of my God.

It is good for me that I have been in trouble, that I may learn thy statutes.

For they all did cast in of their superfluity: But she of her poverty, did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

For they all have of their superfluity added unto the offering of God: But she, of her penury, hath cast in all the substance that she had."

how that the abundance of their rejoicing is, that they are tried with much tribulation. And thereto, though they were exceeding poor, yet have they given exceeding richly, and that in singleness.

Hearken, my dear beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, which are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to them that love him?

I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them which call themselves Jews and are not, but are the congregation of Satan.

Ye know the liberality of our Lord Jesus Christ, which though he were rich, yet for your sakes became poor: that ye through his poverty might be made rich.

And Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." When the young man heard that saying, he went away mourning. For he had great possessions.

For ye suffered also with my bonds, and took in worth the spoiling of your goods, and that with gladness, knowing in yourselves how that ye had in heaven a better, and an enduring substance.

And though I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor, and though I gave my body even that I burned, and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing.

as sorrowing and yet always merry, as poor and yet make many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.