Add parallel Print Page Options

15 The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
    the poverty of the poor is their destruction.

Read full chapter

15 The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
    the poverty of the poor is their ruin.(A)

Read full chapter

24 Give freely and become more wealthy;
    be stingy and lose everything.

25 The generous will prosper;
    those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

26 People curse those who hoard their grain,
    but they bless the one who sells in time of need.

Read full chapter

24 Some give freely yet grow all the richer;
    others withhold what is due and only suffer want.(A)
25 A generous person will be enriched,
    and one who gives water will get water.(B)
26 The people curse those who hold back grain,
    but a blessing is on the head of those who sell it.(C)

Read full chapter

23 A poor person’s farm may produce much food,
    but injustice sweeps it all away.

Read full chapter

23 The field of the poor may yield much food,
    but it is swept away through injustice.(A)

Read full chapter

25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud,
    but he protects the property of widows.

Read full chapter

25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud
    but maintains the widow’s boundaries.(A)

Read full chapter

Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
    those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished.

Read full chapter

Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
    those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.(A)

Read full chapter

Wealth makes many “friends”;
    poverty drives them all away.

Read full chapter

Wealth brings many friends,
    but the poor are left friendless.(A)

Read full chapter

The relatives of the poor despise them;
    how much more will their friends avoid them!
Though the poor plead with them,
    their friends are gone.

Read full chapter

If the poor are hated even by their kin,
    how much more are they shunned by their friends!
When they call after them, they are not there.[a](A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 19.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord
    and he will repay you!

Read full chapter

17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord
    and will be repaid in full.(A)

Read full chapter

13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor
    will be ignored in their own time of need.

Read full chapter

13 If you close your ear to the cry of the poor,
    you will cry out and not be heard.(A)

Read full chapter

Blessed are those who are generous,
    because they feed the poor.

Read full chapter

Those who are generous are blessed,
    for they share their bread with the poor.(A)

Read full chapter

16 A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor
    or by showering gifts on the rich will end in poverty.

Read full chapter

16 Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself,
    and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss.

Read full chapter

22 Don’t rob the poor just because you can,
    or exploit the needy in court.
23 For the Lord is their defender.
    He will ruin anyone who ruins them.

Read full chapter

22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor
    or crush the afflicted at the gate,(A)
23 for the Lord pleads their cause
    and despoils of life those who despoil them.(B)

Read full chapter