100 Bible Verses about Poor People

Proverbs 19:17 ESV / 225 helpful votes

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Deuteronomy 15:11 ESV / 177 helpful votes

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Proverbs 14:31 ESV / 175 helpful votes

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

1 John 3:17 ESV / 143 helpful votes

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Matthew 5:3 ESV / 121 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 29:7 ESV / 120 helpful votes

A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.

Luke 6:20-21 ESV / 112 helpful votes

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Proverbs 22:9 ESV / 107 helpful votes

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Luke 12:33 ESV / 106 helpful votes

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Proverbs 14:21 ESV / 94 helpful votes

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Isaiah 58:10 ESV / 88 helpful votes

If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 83 helpful votes

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Luke 16:19-25 ESV / 80 helpful votes

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ...

James 1:27 ESV / 77 helpful votes

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV / 73 helpful votes

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Luke 3:11 ESV / 71 helpful votes

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

Proverbs 21:13 ESV / 71 helpful votes

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

Psalm 140:12 ESV / 69 helpful votes

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.

Proverbs 28:27 ESV / 67 helpful votes

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 65 helpful votes

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Matthew 26:11 ESV / 65 helpful votes

For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

Proverbs 17:5 ESV / 65 helpful votes

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Leviticus 19:15 ESV / 63 helpful votes

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

Proverbs 31:8-9 ESV / 62 helpful votes

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Deuteronomy 15:7 ESV / 61 helpful votes

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,

James 2:5 ESV / 58 helpful votes

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 58 helpful votes

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Leviticus 25:35 ESV / 58 helpful votes

“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.

Mark 12:41-44 ESV / 57 helpful votes

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Proverbs 22:7 ESV / 54 helpful votes

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Psalm 12:5 ESV / 54 helpful votes

“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

Proverbs 22:22-23 ESV / 53 helpful votes

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.

Galatians 2:10 ESV / 51 helpful votes

Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Isaiah 25:4 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

Acts 20:35 ESV / 50 helpful votes

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Matthew 25:37-40 ESV / 50 helpful votes

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Isaiah 1:17 ESV / 50 helpful votes

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

1 John 3:17-18 ESV / 49 helpful votes

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV / 48 helpful votes

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Luke 14:12-14 ESV / 48 helpful votes

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Matthew 19:21 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Proverbs 22:16 ESV / 45 helpful votes

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Deuteronomy 15:10-11 ESV / 44 helpful votes

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 ESV / 44 helpful votes

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Luke 6:38 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Jeremiah 22:3 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

Proverbs 22:2 ESV / 43 helpful votes

The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.

Leviticus 23:22 ESV / 43 helpful votes

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Exodus 22:25 ESV / 43 helpful votes

“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.

Luke 4:18 ESV / 42 helpful votes

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Proverbs 28:6 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Psalm 9:18 ESV / 42 helpful votes

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Ezekiel 22:29 ESV / 41 helpful votes

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

Matthew 6:31-33 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Leviticus 19:10 ESV / 39 helpful votes

And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Matthew 8:20 ESV / 38 helpful votes

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV / 35 helpful votes

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Luke 7:22 ESV / 34 helpful votes

And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

Isaiah 61:1 ESV / 34 helpful votes

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isaiah 41:17 ESV / 34 helpful votes

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

Zechariah 7:10 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

James 5:1-6 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ...

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV / 28 helpful votes

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Matthew 25:31-46 ESV / 28 helpful votes

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ...

Deuteronomy 15:10 ESV / 28 helpful votes

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 27 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Jeremiah 5:28 ESV / 27 helpful votes

They have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

Acts 4:32-35 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Luke 18:35-42 ESV / 26 helpful votes

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ...

Luke 12:33-34 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Isaiah 58:6-7 ESV / 26 helpful votes

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Psalm 35:10 ESV / 26 helpful votes

All my bones shall say, “O Lord, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

Psalm 9:9 ESV / 26 helpful votes

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 ESV / 26 helpful votes

“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

1 Samuel 2:8 ESV / 25 helpful votes

He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.

Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV / 25 helpful votes

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

Matthew 25:40 ESV / 24 helpful votes

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Luke 14:28 ESV / 23 helpful votes

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Amos 2:6-7 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned;

Jeremiah 5:4 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God.

Deuteronomy 15:4 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess—

Jeremiah 22:16 ESV / 22 helpful votes

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord.

Leviticus 25:39 ESV / 21 helpful votes

“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:

Exodus 23:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes

But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

Matthew 25:35 ESV / 20 helpful votes

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

Amos 4:1 ESV / 20 helpful votes

“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’

Proverbs 30:8 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

Mark 14:7 ESV / 19 helpful votes

For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

Malachi 3:5 ESV / 19 helpful votes

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Proverbs 11:25 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Exodus 23:3 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

2 Corinthians 8:12 ESV / 18 helpful votes

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

Matthew 22:39 ESV / 18 helpful votes

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Revelation 2:9 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

James 2:1-26 ESV / 17 helpful votes

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ...

Luke 6:24 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

Psalm 34:6 ESV / 17 helpful votes

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

Romans 12:20 ESV / 16 helpful votes

To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

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