What the Bible says about helping the poor

The 15 verses readers most often turn to for this topic, quoted in full from the Berean Standard Bible.

Prov 19:17Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

Prov 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

1 John 3:17–18If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

Gal 2:10They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Prov 28:27Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.

Prov 22:9A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Lev 25:35Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

Luke 14:12–14Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Prov 31:8–9Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

Acts 20:35In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Matt 19:21Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Prov 14:21He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who shows kindness to the poor.

Prov 29:7The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.

Jas 2:15–16Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

Isa 58:6–7Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

These are the verses readers most often turn to for this topic — not a teaching on it. Read each in its chapter.

Sources

The verses of each topic and their order: OpenBible.info topical data, by readers’ votes: OpenBible.info · CC BY 4.0

Berean Standard Bible · Public domain