'Needy' in the Bible

For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.’

“You shall not take advantage of a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether [he is] one of your countrymen or one of the strangers (resident aliens, foreigners) who is in your land inside your cities.

“He raises up the poor from the dust,He lifts up the needy from the ash heapTo make them sit with nobles,And inherit a seat of honor and glory;For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,And He set the land on them.

“But God saves [the innocent] from the sword of the mouth of the devious,And the poor from the hand of the mighty.

“They crowd the needy off the road;The poor of the land all hide themselves.

“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.

“The murderer rises at dawn;He kills the poor and the needy,And at night he becomes a thief.

“I was a father to the needy;I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].

“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?Was not my heart grieved for the needy?

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

“He does not prolong the life of the wicked,But gives the afflicted their justice.

For the poor will not always be forgotten,Nor the hope of the burdened perish forever.

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,Who rescues the afflicted from him who is too strong for him [to resist alone],And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”

The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bowTo cast down the afflicted and the needy,To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].

Even though I am afflicted and needy,Still the Lord takes thought and is mindful of me.You are my help and my rescuer.O my God, do not delay.

Your flock found a dwelling place in it;O God, in Your goodness You provided for the poor.

For the Lord hears the needyAnd does not despise His who are prisoners.

But I am afflicted and needy;Come quickly to me, O God!You are my help and my rescuer;O Lord, do not delay.

May he bring justice to the poor among the people,Save the children of the needyAnd crush the oppressor,

For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.

He will have compassion on the poor and needy,And he will save the lives of the needy.

Let not the oppressed return dishonored;Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.

Vindicate the weak and fatherless;Do justice and maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute.

Rescue the weak and needy;Rescue them from the hand of the wicked.

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me,For I am distressed and needy [I long for Your help].

Yet He sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction,And makes their families like a flock.

Because the man did not remember to show kindness,But persecuted the suffering and needy man,And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

For I am suffering and needy,And my heart is wounded within me.

For He will stand at the right hand of the needy,To save him from those who judge his soul.

He has given freely to the poor;His righteousness endures forever;His horn will be exalted in honor.

He raises the poor out of the dustAnd lifts the needy from the ash heap,

I know [with confidence] that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,And [will secure] justice for the poor.

He who oppresses the poor taunts and insults his Maker,But he who is kind and merciful and gracious to the needy honors Him.

There is a generation (class of people) whose teeth are like swordsAnd whose jaw teeth are like knives,To devour the afflicted from the earthAnd the needy from among men.

Open your mouth, judge righteously,And administer justice for the afflicted and needy.

She opens and extends her hand to the poor,And she reaches out her filled hands to the needy.

for the poor youth has [used his wisdom and] come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the fatherless.

“The firstborn of the helpless [of Judah] will feed [on My meadows],And the needy will lie down in safety;But I will kill your root with famine,And your survivors will be put to death.

For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,A stronghold for the poor in his distress,A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat;For the breath of tyrantsIs like a rainstorm against a wall.

“The foot will trample it,Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”

As for the rogue, his weapons are evil;He conceives wicked plansTo ruin the poor with lies,Even when the plea of the needy one is just and right.

“The poor and needy are seeking water, but there is none;Their tongues are parched with thirst.I, the Lord, will answer them Myself;I, the God of Israel, will not neglect them.

‘They are fat and they are sleek (prosperous),They excel in acts of wickedness;They do not plead the cause,The cause of the orphan, so that they [the wicked] may prosper,And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!For He has rescued the life of the needy oneFrom the hand of evildoers.

“He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy;Then all was well.Is that not what it means to know Me?”Says the Lord.

Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters (outlying cities) had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.

oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore [to the debtor] his pledge, but raises his eyes to the idols, and commits repulsive acts,

he keeps his hand from [oppressing] the poor, does not receive interest or increase [from the needy], but executes My ordinances and walks in My statutes; he shall not die for the sin (guilt) of his father; he shall certainly live.

The people of the land have practiced oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy and they have oppressed the stranger without justice.

Thus says the Lord,“For three transgressions of Israel and for four (multiplied delinquencies)I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,Because they sell the righteous and innocent for silverAnd the needy for the price of a pair of sandals.

Hear this word, you [well-fed, pampered] cows (women) of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria,Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,Who say to their husbands, “Bring [the wine] now, and let us drink!”

For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable),You who distress the righteous and take bribes,And turn away from the poor in the [court of the city] gate [depriving them of justice].

Hear this, you who trample down the needy, and do away with the poor of the land,

So that we may buy the poor [as slaves] for silver [since they are unable to support themselves]And the needy for a pair of sandals,And that we may sell the leftovers of the wheat [as if it were a good grade of grain]?”