100 Bible Verses about Widows

Exodus 22:22-24 ESV / 225 helpful votes

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Psalm 68:5 ESV / 151 helpful votes

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

1 Timothy 5:3-6 ESV / 99 helpful votes

Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 91 helpful votes

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Psalm 146:9 ESV / 86 helpful votes

The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

Isaiah 1:17 ESV / 82 helpful votes

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

1 Timothy 5:16 ESV / 79 helpful votes

If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

James 1:27 ESV / 73 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.

Proverbs 15:25 ESV / 73 helpful votes

The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries.

Luke 20:47 ESV / 70 helpful votes

Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Zechariah 7:10 ESV / 58 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.”

Luke 7:11-15 ESV / 57 helpful votes

Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Mark 12:41-44 ESV / 49 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.”

Luke 2:37 ESV / 48 helpful votes

And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Romans 7:3 ESV / 47 helpful votes

Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

1 Corinthians 7:39 ESV / 41 helpful votes

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

Malachi 3:5 ESV / 39 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.

Job 22:9 ESV / 39 helpful votes

You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

Isaiah 10:2 ESV / 38 helpful votes

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!

1 Timothy 5:3 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Honor widows who are truly widows.

Job 29:13 ESV / 36 helpful votes

The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

Jeremiah 49:11 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.”

1 Corinthians 7:8 ESV / 32 helpful votes

To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 ESV / 31 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.

Zechariah 7:9-10 ESV / 30 helpful votes

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Jeremiah 7:5-7 ESV / 30 helpful votes

“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

Psalm 68:4-5 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Job 29:12-13 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

Jeremiah 7:6 ESV / 28 helpful votes

If you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,

Proverbs 31:9 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Psalm 146:1-149:9 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, ...

1 Corinthians 7:9 ESV / 26 helpful votes

But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Ezekiel 22:7 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

Mark 12:40 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

2 Kings 4:1-7 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. ...

Isaiah 1:2 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

1 Timothy 5:9-12 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.

Isaiah 54:4 ESV / 18 helpful votes

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Isaiah 1:23 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.

Luke 2:36 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin,

Psalm 68:2 ESV / 17 helpful votes

As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

James 1:2 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Psalm 94:6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Job 31:16 ESV / 15 helpful votes

“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Ruth 1:1-22 ESV / 15 helpful votes

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. ...

Romans 10:13 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Ezekiel 22:29 ESV / 14 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.

Colossians 2:8 ESV / 13 helpful votes

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Jeremiah 22:3 ESV / 13 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.

Job 24:3 ESV / 13 helpful votes

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

Philippians 4:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Isaiah 10:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,

Isaiah 1:1-17:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Deuteronomy 10:18 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Ruth 3:1-18 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” ...

1 Timothy 5:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,

Luke 21:1-4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Leviticus 22:13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ESV / 7 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. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. 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 10:17-19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 6 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

2 Peter 3:18 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

1 Timothy 5:4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 8:12 ESV / 6 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.

Acts 4:32-35 ESV / 6 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.

Mark 12:42 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.

Lamentations 5:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.

Job 24:21 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.

Ruth 2:1-23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ...

Deuteronomy 27:19 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 24:17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge,

Deuteronomy 14:29 ESV / 6 helpful votes

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.

Exodus 22:22 ESV / 6 helpful votes

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

1 Timothy 5:10 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.

1 Timothy 5:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,

1 Timothy 5:3-16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. ...

Acts 6:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Isaiah 54:1-17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. ...

Isaiah 10:1-2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 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!

Deuteronomy 24:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 16:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.

Matthew 25:36 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Isaiah 41:17 ESV / 4 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.

Psalm 82:3 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Job 29:12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.

1 John 3:17-18 ESV / 3 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.

1 Timothy 5:3-4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 3 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 25:40 ESV / 3 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.’

Matthew 6:1-4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Hosea 14:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.”

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 3 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.

Jeremiah 22:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

Jeremiah 5:28 ESV / 3 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.

Isaiah 58:10 ESV / 3 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.

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