100 Bible Verses about Serving The Poor

Proverbs 19:17 ESV / 790 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 14:31 ESV / 673 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 22:9 ESV / 619 helpful votes

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

1 John 3:17-18 ESV / 535 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.

Proverbs 28:27 ESV / 445 helpful votes

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

Isaiah 58:10 ESV / 414 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.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 410 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.’”

Deuteronomy 15:11 ESV / 395 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.’

Galatians 2:10 ESV / 381 helpful votes

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

Luke 14:12-14 ESV / 362 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.”

James 1:27 ESV / 353 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.

Matthew 19:21 ESV / 335 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 21:13 ESV / 328 helpful votes

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

Deuteronomy 15:10-11 ESV / 326 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.’

Proverbs 14:21 ESV / 323 helpful votes

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

1 John 3:17 ESV / 311 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?

Proverbs 29:7 ESV / 305 helpful votes

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

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 302 helpful votes

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

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 ESV / 296 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.

Matthew 25:31-46 ESV / 295 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, ...

Luke 12:33 ESV / 259 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.

Luke 6:38 ESV / 257 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.”

Luke 12:33-34 ESV / 254 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.

Luke 3:11 ESV / 247 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 31:8-9 ESV / 244 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.

Psalm 140:12 ESV / 235 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 22:22-23 ESV / 226 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.

Isaiah 25:4 ESV / 223 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,

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 216 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 19:15 ESV / 209 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.

Leviticus 25:35 ESV / 203 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.

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 202 helpful votes

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

Deuteronomy 15:10 ESV / 201 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.

Matthew 25:40 ESV / 197 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.’

James 2:5 ESV / 194 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?

Isaiah 61:1 ESV / 192 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;

Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV / 191 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.

Proverbs 17:5 ESV / 190 helpful votes

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

Luke 6:20-21 ESV / 188 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.

Isaiah 58:6-7 ESV / 188 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?

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV / 187 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.

Jeremiah 22:16 ESV / 187 helpful votes

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

Psalm 35:10 ESV / 186 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?”

Deuteronomy 15:7 ESV / 186 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,

Isaiah 41:17 ESV / 181 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 82:3-4 ESV / 179 helpful votes

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Isaiah 1:17 ESV / 177 helpful votes

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

Psalm 12:5 ESV / 173 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.”

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 172 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.

Romans 12:13 ESV / 165 helpful votes

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Ezekiel 22:29 ESV / 164 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.

Proverbs 22:16 ESV / 164 helpful votes

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

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ESV / 162 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.’

Hebrews 13:16 ESV / 159 helpful votes

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Jeremiah 22:3 ESV / 156 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.

1 Samuel 2:8 ESV / 155 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.

Psalm 9:18 ESV / 151 helpful votes

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

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV / 149 helpful votes

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

Matthew 6:1-4 ESV / 148 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.

Zechariah 7:10 ESV / 146 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.”

Matthew 25:35 ESV / 145 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,

1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV / 142 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.

Proverbs 31:20 ESV / 142 helpful votes

She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

Proverbs 22:2 ESV / 140 helpful votes

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

Leviticus 19:10 ESV / 139 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.

Leviticus 23:22 ESV / 137 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.”

Philippians 2:4 ESV / 134 helpful votes

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Proverbs 31:9 ESV / 133 helpful votes

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

Matthew 25:35-40 ESV / 132 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, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 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?’ ...

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 ESV / 129 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 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 128 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 68:5 ESV / 123 helpful votes

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

Luke 3:10-11 ESV / 122 helpful votes

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

Psalm 82:3 ESV / 122 helpful votes

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

Acts 9:36 ESV / 121 helpful votes

Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.

Luke 21:1-4 ESV / 117 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.”

Jeremiah 5:28 ESV / 112 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 58:7 ESV / 112 helpful votes

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?

James 2:14-17 ESV / 111 helpful votes

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Psalm 112:9 ESV / 111 helpful votes

He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.

Luke 4:18 ESV / 110 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,

Psalm 9:9 ESV / 109 helpful votes

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

Luke 7:22 ESV / 108 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.

Malachi 3:5 ESV / 106 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.

Psalm 14:6 ESV / 106 helpful votes

You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge.

Luke 14:13 ESV / 103 helpful votes

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

Isaiah 29:19 ESV / 103 helpful votes

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

Romans 12:20 ESV / 100 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.”

Matthew 26:11 ESV / 100 helpful votes

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

Micah 6:8 ESV / 97 helpful votes

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Jeremiah 20:13 ESV / 93 helpful votes

Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Ecclesiastes 5:8 ESV / 92 helpful votes

If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them.

Psalm 68:10 ESV / 90 helpful votes

Your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 87 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.

Psalm 146:9 ESV / 80 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.

Acts 2:44 ESV / 79 helpful votes

And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

Exodus 23:11 ESV / 79 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.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 78 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.

Psalm 146:7 ESV / 78 helpful votes

Who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;

Proverbs 22:1 ESV / 70 helpful votes

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

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