'Widows' in the Bible
and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Then David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and placed them under guard and provided them with sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as widows.
“You have sent widows away empty,And the strength of the orphans has been crushed.
“His survivors will be buried because of the plague,And their widows will not be able to weep.
A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,Is God in His holy habitation.
His priests fell by the sword,And His widows could not weep.
Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men,Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows;For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,And every mouth is speaking foolishness.In spite of all this, His anger does not turn awayAnd His hand is still stretched out.
So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of their rights,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the orphans.
“Their widows will be more numerous before MeThan the sand of the seas;I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,A destroyer at noonday;I will suddenly bring down on herAnguish and dismay.
“Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;And let your widows trust in Me.”
We have become orphans without a father,Our mothers are like widows.
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.
[Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”
But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;
who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married,
Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;
If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.