Proverbs 19:17

The one who is gracious ¹  to the poor lends ²  to the Lord, and the Lord ³  will repay him ⁴  for his good deed. ⁵ 

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD––and he will repay you!

Mercy to the needy is a loan to GOD, and GOD pays back those loans in full.

He who has pity on the poor gives to the Lord, and the Lord will give him his reward.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and will be repaid in full.

He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.

The one who is gracious ¹  to the poor lends ²  to the Lord, and the Lord ³  will repay him ⁴  for his good deed. ⁵ 

¹ sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.

² tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.

³ tn Heb “he.” The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun is “the Lord” in the preceding line, which has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.

⁵ tn Heb “and his good deed will repay him.” The word גְּמֻלוֹ (gÿmulo) could be (1) the subject or (2) part of a double accusative of the verb. Understanding it as part of the double accusative makes better sense, for then the subject of the verb is God. How “his deed” could repay him is not immediately obvious.