Deuteronomy 15:7-8

 

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.

Deuteronomy 4:10

 

"Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."

Deuteronomy 15:11

 

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

 

 

 

Joshua 1:14-15

 

...You are to help your brothers until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you...

 

 

 

 

1 Samuel 2:7-8

 

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.

 

 

 

Nehemiah 9:15

 

But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

 

 

 

Job 5:15-16

 

He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

 

 

 

 

Job 24:5

 

Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor foraging their food; the wasteland provides food for their children.

 

 

 

Psalm 9:9

 

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

 

 

 

Psalm 9:18

 

But the needy will not always be forgotten,  nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

 

 

 

 

Psalm 12:5

 

"Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "Then I will protect them from those who malign them."

 

 

 

Psalm 17:14

 

You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

 

 

 

Psalm 22:26

 

The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him. 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 35:10

 

"You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them."

 

 

 

Psalm 37:25

 

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

 

 

 

Psalm 72:4

 

He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.

 

 

 

Psalm 72:12-14

 

For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.  He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

 

 

Psalm 82:3-4

 

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

 

 

 

Psalm 102:17

 

He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.

 

 

Psalm 107:9

 

… for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

 

 

 

Psalm 109:31

 

For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.

 

 

 

Psalm 113:7

 

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap.

 

 

 

Psalm 140:12

 

I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

 

 

 

Psalm 145:14-18

 

The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

 

 

 

Psalm 146:7-9

 

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

 

 

 

Proverbs 3:27-28

 

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow" — when you now have it with you.

 

 

 

Proverbs 10:3

 

The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

 

 

 

Proverbs 11:24-25

 

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

 

 

 

Proverbs 14:20-21

 

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

 

 

 

Proverbs 14:31

 

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

 

 

 

Proverbs 19:17

 

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

 

 

 

Proverbs 22:9

 

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

 

 

 

Proverbs 22:16

 

He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich — both come to poverty.

 

 

 

Proverbs 22:22-23

 

Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.

 

 

 

Proverbs 28:27

 

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

 

 

 

Proverbs 31:8-9

 

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

 

 

 

Proverbs 31:20

 

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

 

 

 

Isaiah 1:17

 

Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

 

 

 

Isaiah 10:1-3

 

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?

 

 

 

Isaiah 14:30

 

The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety.

 

 

 

Isaiah 25:4

 

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

 

 

 

Isaiah 41:17-18

 

"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs."

 

 

 

Isaiah 58:6-11

 

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 

"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."

 

 

 

Isaiah 61:1-3

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

 

 

 

Jeremiah 22:3

 

"This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place."

 

 

 

Jeremiah 22:16

 

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.

 

 

 

Lamentations 4:4

 

Because of thirst the infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them.

 

 

 

Ezekiel 16:49

 

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."