67 Bible Verses about Poverty, Attitudes Towards

If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brothers, within any of thy gates in thy land which LORD thy God gives thee, thou shall not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother, but thou shall surely open thy hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need which he wants.

He who mocks a poor man reproaches his maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.

sharing for the needs of the sanctified, pursuing love for strangers.

So then as we have time, let us work what is good toward all men, and especially toward those belonging to a household of the faith.

And if a brother or sister may be unclothed, and may be destitute of daily food, and some man of you would say to them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and fed, but ye would not give them the things necessary for the body, what is the benefit?

But whoever has the world's living, and sees his brother having need, and closes his bowels from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Thou shall not distort the justice [due] to thy poor in his case.

And if thy brother becomes poor, and his hand fails with thee, then thou shall uphold him; he shall live with thee [as] a stranger and a sojourner. Take thou no interest from him or increase, but fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shall not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy food for profit.

Thou shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brothers, or of thy sojourners that are in thy land within thy gates. Thou shall give him his hire in his day, neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it, lest he cry against thee to LORD, and it be sin to thee.

And LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him, There were two men in one city: the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up. And it grew up together with him, and with his sons. It ate of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was tread more.
And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man who came to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who came to him.

Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do those who know him not see his days? There are [men] who remove the landmarks. They take away flocks violently, and feed them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless. They take the widow's ox for a pledge.read more.
They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

Do not rob a poor man, because he is poor, nor oppress an afflicted man in the gate.

A righteous man takes knowledge of the cause of the poor. A wicked man has no [such] understanding to know.

and say, Hear the word of LORD, O king of Judah, who sits upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people who enter in by these gates. Thus says LORD: Execute ye justice and righteousness. And deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. And do no wrong. Do no violence to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in t

If he begets a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things, and who does not do any of those [duties], but has even eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, has wronged the poor and needy man, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,read more.
has given forth upon interest, and has taken increase, shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be upon him.

Thus says LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment of it, because they have sold a righteous man for silver, and a needy man for a pair of shoes-- those who pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek. And a man and his father go to the [same] maiden, to profane my holy name.

And do not oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor man. And let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.

For if a man with a gold ring in bright clothing comes into your synagogue, and also a poor man in dirty clothing comes in, and ye have regard for the man wearing the bright clothing, and say to him, Sit thou here well, and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit here below my footstool, then are ye not partial among yourselves, and become judges from evil thoughts?

At the end of every three years thou shall bring forth all the tithe of thine increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within thy gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, that LORD thy God may bless thee in al

but the seventh year thou shall let it rest and lay fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shall deal with thy vineyard, [and] with thy oliveyard.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shall not wholly reap the corners of thy field, nor shall thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. And thou shall not glean thy vineyard, nor shall thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard. Thou shall leave them for the poor man and for the sojourner. I am LORD your God.

That which grows of itself of thy harvest thou shall not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. And the Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you: for thee, and for thy servant and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger, who sojourns with thee.

He who has pity upon a poor man lends to LORD, and he will repay him his good deed.

Judge the poor man and the orphan. Do justice to the afflicted and destitute man. Rescue the poor and needy man. Deliver from the hand of the wicked man.

For when the ear heard [me], then it blessed me, and when the eye saw [me], it gave witness to me. Because I delivered the poor who cried, also the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.read more.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the case of him whom I did not know. And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

And having answered, he says to them, He who has two coats, let him share with him not having, and he who has food, let him do likewise.

Now at Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which, being translated, is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charities that she did.

Beware that there not be a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nothing, and he cry to LORD against thee, and it be Thou shall surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou give to him, because for this thing LORD thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou put thy hand to. For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall surely open thy hand to thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.

And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, that LORD thy God may bless thee in al

And at mealtime Boaz said to her, Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers, and they passed her parched grain, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left of it.

He has scattered, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn shall be exalted with honor.

But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, that had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

And having stood, Zacchaeus said to the Lord, Behold, half of the things possessed by me, Lord, I give to the poor. And if I defrauded any man of anything, I repay fourfold.

a devout man, and fearing God with all his house, and doing many charities for the people, and beseeching God always.

Each man as he purposes in his heart, not from regret or from necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

When therefore thou do charity, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

And Jesus having summoned his disciples, he said, I feel compassion toward the multitude because they continue with me now three days and do not have what they might eat. And I do not want to dismiss them without food, lest they mi

In those days, the multitude being very great, and not having what they might eat, Jesus having summoned his disciples, he says to them, I feel compassion toward the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and do not have what they might eat. And if I send them away without food to their house, they will faint on the way, for some of them come from afar.

The Spirit of Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good-news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to sent forth in deliv to proclaim the acceptable year of Lord.

For some thought, since Judas had the purse, that Jesus said to him, Buy what things we have need of for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

Jesus of Nazareth--how God anointed him with Holy Spirit and with power, who passed through doing good, and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

And all who believed were together, and had all things common. And they sold properties and possessions, and divided them to all, according as any man had need.

And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And not even one man said that anything of the things that was possessed by him was his own, but all things were common to them. And with great power the apostles gave back the testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. For not even any needy was among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses, selling, they brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,read more.
and placed them at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each, according as any man had need.

And the disciples, as any man prospered, determined, each of them regarding aid, to send to the brothers who dwell in Judea, which also they did, having sent it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

I gave you a glimpse of all things, that so laboring ye ought to aid the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Now after more years I came, going to make donations to my nation, and offerings,

But now I am going to Jerusalem serving the sanctified. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a certain participation for the poor of the sanctified at Jerusalem. For they were pleased. And they are debtors of them, for if the gentiles were partakers in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to serve them in the carnal things.

For it is not, so that ease is for others and stress for you, but out of parity your abundance at the present time is for the need of those men. So that the abundance of those men may also happen for your need, so that there may become equity, as it is written, he of much did not abound, and he of little did not lack.

only that we should remember the poor, which this same thing I also was eager to do.

Blessed is he who considers a poor man. LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.

He who gives to the poor shall not lack, but he who hides his eyes shall have many a curse.

Jesus said to him, If thou want to be perfect, go, sell the things being possessed by thee, and give to the poor, and thou will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in, naked, and ye clothed me. I was feeble, and ye came to help me. I was in prison, and ye came to me.

For whoever may give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye are of Christ, truly I say to you, he will, no, not lose his reward.

But do not forget benevolence and fellowship, for God is well pleased with such sacrifices.

He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the sojourner in giving him food and raiment.

Thou have seen. For thou behold mischief and spite, to repay with thy hand. The poor man commits [himself] to thee. Thou have been the helper of the fatherless.

LORD preserves the sojourners. He upholds the fatherless and widow. But the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

And thou shall rejoice before LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite who is within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in th

Then Boaz said, That day thou buy the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.

Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou know that thy servant feared LORD, and the creditor has come to take my two children to him to be bo

Thou have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the FALSE swearers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the f

Now in those days, the disciples being multiplied, there developed a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily assistance.

Support widows, the real widows.

Pure religion and undefiled from God and the Father is this, to go help the orphaned and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.