67 Bible Verses about Poverty, Attitudes Towards

If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him; But let your hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of.

Whoever makes sport of the poor puts shame on his Maker; and he who is glad because of trouble will not go free from punishment.

Giving to the needs of the saints, ready to take people into your houses.

So then, as we have the chance, let us do good to all men, and specially to those who are of the family of the faith.

If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this?

But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

Let no wrong decisions be given in the poor man's cause.

And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you. Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you. Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.

Do not be hard on a servant who is poor and in need, if he is one of your countrymen or a man from another nation living with you in your land. Give him his payment day by day, not keeping it back over night; for he is poor and his living is dependent on it; and if his cry against you comes to the ears of the Lord, it will be judged as sin in you.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds; But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.read more.
Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days? The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers. They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.read more.
The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together.

Do not take away the property of the poor man because he is poor, or be cruel to the crushed ones when they come before the judge:

The upright man gives attention to the cause of the poor: the evil-doer gives no thought to it.

And say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, seated on the seat of David, you and your servants and your people who come in by these doors. This is what the Lord has said: Do what is right, judging uprightly, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away: do no wrong and be not violent to the man from a strange country and the child without a father and the widow, and let not those who have done no wrong be put to death in this place.

If he has a son who is a thief, a taker of life, who does any of these things, Who has taken flesh with the blood as food, and has had connection with his neighbour's wife, Has done wrong to the poor and to him who is in need, and taken property by force, and has not given back to one in his debt what is his, and has given worship to images and has done disgusting things,read more.
And has given out his money at interest and taken great profits: he will certainly not go on living: he has done all these disgusting things: death will certainly be his fate; his blood will be on him.

These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they have given the upright man for silver, and the poor for the price of two shoes; Crushing the head of the poor, and turning the steps of the gentle out of the way: and a man and his father go in to the same young woman, putting shame on my holy name:

Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.

For if a man comes into your Synagogue in fair clothing and with a gold ring, and a poor man comes in with dirty clothing, And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet; Is there not a division in your minds? have you not become judges with evil thoughts?

At the end of every three years take a tenth part of all your increase for that year, and put it in store inside your walls: And the Levite, because he has no part or heritage in the land, and the man from a strange country, and the child who has no father, and the widow, who are living among you, will come and take food and have enough; and so the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

But in the seventh year let the land have a rest and be unplanted; so that the poor may have food from it: and let the beasts of the field take the rest. Do the same with your vine-gardens and your olive-trees.

And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain be cut from the edges of the field, or take up what has been dropped on the earth after the getting in of the grain. And do not take all the grapes from your vine-garden, or the fruit dropped on the earth; let the poor man, and the man from another country, have these: I am the Lord your God.

That which comes to growth of itself may not be cut, and the grapes of your uncared-for vines may not be taken off; let it be a year of rest for the land. And the Sabbath of the land will give food for you and your man-servant and your woman-servant and those working for payment, and for those of another country who are living among you;

He who has pity on the poor gives to the Lord, and the Lord will give him his reward.

For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me; For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.read more.
I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.

And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, that is, Dorcas: this woman was given to good works and acts of mercy at all times.

And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you. But it is right for you to give to him, without grief of heart: for because of this, the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all your work and on everything to which you put your hand. For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so I give orders to you, Let your hand be open to your countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in your land.

And the Levite, because he has no part or heritage in the land, and the man from a strange country, and the child who has no father, and the widow, who are living among you, will come and take food and have enough; and so the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her meal.

He has given with open hands to the poor; his righteousness is for ever; his horn will be lifted up with honour.

But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, let the poorest of the people, who had nothing whatever, go on living in the land of Judah, and gave them vine-gardens and fields at the same time.

And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.

A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.

Let every man do after the purpose of his heart; not giving with grief, or by force: for God takes pleasure in a ready giver.

When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward.

And Jesus got his disciples together and said, I have pity for the people, because they have now been with me three days and have no food: and I will not send them away without food, or they will have no strength for the journey.

In those days again, when there was a great mass of people and they had no food, he made his disciples come to him and said to them, I have pity for these people because they have been with me now three days, and have no food; If I send them away to their houses with no food, they will be overcome by weariness on the way; and some of them have come from far.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains, To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come.

Some were of the opinion that because Judas kept the money-bag Jesus said to him, Get the things we have need of for the feast; or, that he was to give something to the poor.

About Jesus of Nazareth, how God gave the Holy Spirit to him, with power: and how he went about doing good and making well all who were troubled by evil spirits, for God was with him.

And all those who were of the faith kept together, and had all things in common; And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need.

And all those who were of the faith were one in heart and soul: and not one of them said that any of the things which he had was his property only; but they had all things in common. And with great power the Apostles gave witness of the coming back of the Lord Jesus from the dead; and grace was on them all. And no one among them was in need; for everyone who had land or houses, exchanging them for money, took the price of them,read more.
And put it at the feet of the Apostles for distribution to everyone as he had need.

And the disciples, everyone as he was able, made a decision to send help to the brothers living in Judaea: Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.

Now after a number of years I came to give help and offerings to my nation:

But now I go to Jerusalem, taking help for the saints. For it has been the good pleasure of those of Macedonia and Achaia to send a certain amount of money for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. Yes, it has been their good pleasure; and they are in their debt. For if the Gentiles have had a part in the things of the Spirit which were theirs, it is right for them, in the same way, to give them help in the things of the flesh.

And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you: But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal. As it says in the Writings, He who had taken up much had nothing over and he who had little had enough.

Only it was their desire that we would give thought to the poor; which very thing I had much in mind to do.

Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble.

He who gives to the poor will never be in need, but great curses will be on him who gives no attention to them.

Jesus said to him, If you have a desire to be complete, go, get money for your property, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come after me.

Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was: For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in; I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me.

Whoever gives you a cup of water, because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will in no way be without his reward.

But go on doing good and giving to others, because God is well-pleased with such offerings.

Judging uprightly in the cause of the widow and of the child who has no father, and giving food and clothing in his mercy to the man from a strange country.

You have seen it; for your eyes are on sorrow and grief, to take it into your hand: the poor man puts his faith in you; you have been the helper of the child who has no father.

The Lord takes care of those who are in a strange land; he gives help to the widow and to the child who has no father; but he sends destruction on the way of sinners.

Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;

Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father.

Then you are to be glad before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is with you, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you, in the place marked out by the Lord your God as a resting-place for his name.

Then Boaz said, On the day when you take this field, you will have to take with it Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, so that you may keep the name of the dead living in his heritage.

Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.

You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.

And I will come near to you for judging; I will quickly be a witness against the wonder-workers, against those who have been untrue in married life, against those who take false oaths; against those who keep back from the servant his payment, and who are hard on the widow and the child without a father, who do not give his rights to the man from a strange country, and have no fear of me, says the Lord of armies.

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.

Give honour to widows who are truly widows.

The religion which is holy and free from evil in the eyes of our God and Father is this: to take care of children who have no fathers and of widows who are in trouble, and to keep oneself untouched by the world.