Bible on Poverty

In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.

And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.

The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.

They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.

He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:

The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression.

He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.

Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.

He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.

The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.

The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings.

And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

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

He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.

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 false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.