100 Bible Verses About Poverty

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

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.

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

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

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

And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

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

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

And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

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

He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

And the famine was sore in the land.

Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens:

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

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

And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.

And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house.

And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

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

Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.

But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners:

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.

Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the Lord thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

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

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:

The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.