“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,

Blessings and Woes

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

And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.

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

So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,

The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

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

He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them,