Matthew 11:5
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them.
But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God. . .
And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.
And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen: and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.
Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?
I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury.
Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.
Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and form his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise.
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day...
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
I can't help but notice how often treatment of the poor comes up in the Bible, so I decided to start this project to try to collect verses on the topic. The project has a couple of purposes. First, it is meant to help give an overview of how God feels about the poor and what we should do about that. Second, it is meant to be an accountability tool for me. My goal this year is to read the entire Bible. I placed markers at the beginning of Genesis, I Samuel, Ezra, Isaiah, and Matthew. Five days a week I'll choose three chapters to read, and twice a week I'll read four. The markers are in different places to provide some flexibility, so I don't get discouraged reading nothing but Deuteronomy for a month. As I come across verses that apply to this project, the idea is that I post them here. If I haven't posted in a while, that means either (a) all my markers are in geneology sections, or (b) my priorities have slipped out of place and I'm not keeping up with reading. Feel free to gently remind me by email or comment should this happen.