“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Jesus answered, “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.”

“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.

It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

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

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

“Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”

He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.