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

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.

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

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

⁵ Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
    those who rejoice at the misfortune of others will be punished.

⁴ Wealth makes many “friends”;
    poverty drives them all away.

⁷ 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.

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

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

⁹ Blessed are those who are generous,
    because they feed the poor.