I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹  They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ²  They do not know what their God requires of them. ³ 

Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them. ¹ 

He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.’ ¹  The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ² 

Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, ¹  you dear poor people of Egypt. ²  But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; ³  there will be no healing for you.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ¹  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen.

“‘See here – this was the iniquity ¹  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ²  the poor and needy.

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ¹ 

Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ¹ 

They trample ¹  on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; ²  they push the destitute away. ³  A man and his father go to the same girl; ⁴  in this way they show disrespect ⁵  for my moral purity. ⁶ 

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ¹  who live on Mount Samaria! You ²  oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your ³  husbands, “Bring us more to drink!” ⁴ 

“If thieves came to rob you ¹  during the night, ²  they would steal only as much as they wanted! ³  If grape pickers came to harvest your vineyards, ⁴  they would leave some behind for the poor! ⁵  But you will be totally destroyed! ⁶ 

You pierce the heads of his warriors ¹  with a spear. ²  They storm forward to scatter us; ³  they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ⁴ 

But in the seventh year ¹  you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field ²  may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

“If the person is poor and does not have sufficient means, ¹  he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make atonement for himself, one-tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, ² 

When you gather in the harvest ¹  of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, ²  and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’” ³ 

If he is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value; ¹  according to what the man who made the vow can afford, ²  the priest will establish his conversion value.

and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether or not there are forests in it. And be brave, ¹  and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” Now it was the time of year ²  for the first ripe grapes. ³ 

On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷ 

He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust; he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. ³  The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ¹  It used to ²  eat his food, ³  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁴  It was just like a daughter to him.