Caravaggio, Saint Jerome Writing (c. 1605), Galleria Borghese. Public domain.
197 verses in the King James Version. Word study for “poor” →
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
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.
And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil;
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
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.
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:
Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
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.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD , and it be sin unto thee.
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.
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.
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
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.
And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?
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.
But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.
He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.
He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression.
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
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 lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD ; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him , and saved him out of all his troubles.
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?
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.
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.
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.
But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD , make no tarrying.
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
Bow down thine ear, O LORD , hear me: for I am poor and needy.
Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.
There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.
All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him .
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD ; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out.
As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it .
The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.
The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.
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 .
There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
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.
For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
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.
Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
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.
What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD , and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
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.
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
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?
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD : but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD , nor the judgment of their God.
Sing unto the LORD , praise ye the LORD : for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD .
But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
Thus saith the LORD ; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right .
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea , and sell the refuse of the wheat?
Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD .
And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD .
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
