55 Bible Verses about Poverty, Causes Of

But to Adam he said, "Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.) Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams. The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.read more.
(The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there). The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

"Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you.

The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain and the one who gives to the rich -- both end up only in poverty.

Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah every source of security, including all the food and water,

"But surely I gave you no food to eat in any of your cities; you lacked food everywhere you live. Still you did not come back to me." The Lord is speaking!

Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man.

The one who is lazy becomes poor, but the one who works diligently becomes wealthy.

In all hard work there is profit, but merely talking about it only brings poverty.

Do not love sleep, lest you become impoverished; open your eyes so that you might be satisfied with food.

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax, and your poverty will come like a bandit, and your need like an armed robber."

The one who loves pleasure will be a poor person; whoever loves wine and anointing oil will not be rich.

for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man preys on your precious life.

The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, but whoever chases daydreams will have his fill of poverty.

Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need.

The one who neglects discipline ends up in poverty and shame, but the one who accepts reproof is honored.

The plans of the diligent lead only to plenty, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Do not be one who strikes hands in pledge or who puts up security for debts. If you do not have enough to pay, your bed will be taken right out from under you!

"For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began settling his accounts, a man who owed ten thousand talents was brought to him. Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made.

One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty.

The stingy person hastens after riches and does not know that poverty will overtake him.

By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

You expected a large harvest, but instead there was little, and when you brought it home it disappeared right away. Why?' asks the Lord who rules over all. 'Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house!

Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

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

There is abundant food in the field of the poor, but it is swept away by injustice.

Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.

Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

I will provide you with food there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor -- you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you."'

So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. So the land became Pharaoh's. Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt's border to the other end of it.

Now the day came when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and a messenger came to Job, saying, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing beside them, and the Sabeans swooped down and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"read more.
While this one was still speaking, another messenger arrived and said, "The fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants -- it has consumed them! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!" While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!" While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!" Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!"

For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat food in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper.

Remain loyal to the Lord, you chosen people of his, for his loyal followers lack nothing! Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his children forced to search for food.

Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, "Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants."

But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores,

For Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

The wealth of a rich person is like a fortified city, but the poor are brought to ruin by their poverty.

Then the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm too ashamed to beg.

let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more.

People do not despise a thief when he steals to fulfill his need when he is hungry.

Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches, feed me with my allotted portion of bread, lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God.

It was good for me to suffer, so that I might learn your statutes.

For they all gave out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had."

For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on."

that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth of their generosity.

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

I know the distress you are suffering and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know the slander against you by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.

Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession.

If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.