Add parallel Print Page Options

21 The wicked borrow and do not pay back,
    but the righteous are generous and keep giving;(A)

Read full chapter

16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Read full chapter

It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

Read full chapter

The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is the slave of the lender.(A)

Read full chapter

For you know the generous act[a] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 8.9 Gk the grace or gift

They have distributed freely; they have given to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn is exalted in honor.(A)

Read full chapter

12 The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.(A)

Read full chapter

30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again.(A)

Read full chapter

10 For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the[a] love that you showed for his sake[b] in serving the saints, as you still do.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 6.10 Other ancient authorities add labor of
  2. 6.10 Gk for his name

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.(A) Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(B) And God is able to provide you with every blessing[a] in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.(C) As it is written,

“He scatters abroad; he gives to the poor;
    his righteousness[b] endures forever.”(D)

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[c] 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us, 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you[d] glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your partnership with them and with all others,(E) 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!(F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9.8 Gk gift or grace
  2. 9.9 Or benevolence
  3. 9.10 Or benevolence
  4. 9.13 Or they

35 In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”(A)

Read full chapter

29 The disciples determined that, according to their ability, each would send relief to the brothers and sisters living in Judea;(A)

Read full chapter

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?(A)
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[a] shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.(B)
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,(C)
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.(D)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 58.8 Or vindication

But those who are noble plan noble things,
    and by noble things they stand.(A)

Read full chapter

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail(A)
17 or have eaten my morsel alone
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—(B)
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan[a] like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[b]
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing
    or a poor person without covering,
20 whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;(C)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 31.18 Heb him
  2. 31.18 Heb her

Nehemiah Deals with Oppression

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin.(A) For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.” There were also those who said, “We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.” And there were those who said, “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax.(B) Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”(C)

Read full chapter

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.”(A) Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not just a few. Then go in, shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring.

Read full chapter

43 Aliens residing among you shall ascend above you higher and higher, while you shall descend lower and lower.(A) 44 They shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to them; they shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.(B)

Read full chapter

Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor[a] might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.(A) 10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.(B) 11 Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’(C)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 15.9 Heb he