who shut their
ears to the cry of the poor will themselves also call and
not be heard.
What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding
down the poor when they look to you? Those who
oppress the poor blaspheme their Maker, but the one
who is kind to the needy glorifies God. The rich who
oppress the poor are like a devastating rain that leaves no
food. Better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be
crooked in your ways and rich. Those who shut their
ears to the cry of the poor will themselves also call and
not be heard.
Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor; do not plot evil against one another in your hearts. God saves the poor from the edge of the sword and from the hand of the mighty. Thus the unfortunate have hope and iniquity closes its mouth. For the poor shall not always be forgotten, nor shall the hope of the afflicted forever perish. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom God promised to those who love him? Yet you have treated the poor shamefully. Are not the rich exploiting you?
Blessed are you poor, the reign of God is yours.
Blessed are you who hunger, you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who are weeping, you shall
laugh. But woe to you rich, for your consolation
is now. Woe to you who are full, you shall go
hungry.
God has deposed the mighty from their thrones, and raised the lowly to high places. God has given the hungry every good thing, and has sent the rich away empty. The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because God has anointed Me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and release to prisoners.
When you reap the harvest, you shall not be so thorough
that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you
glean the stray ears of grain. Likewise, you shall not pick
your vineyard bare, nor gather up the grapes that have
fallen. These things you shall leave for the poor and the
alien.
You shall not harden your heart nor
close your hand to the poor in their
need. When you give to the poor, give
freely and not with ill will; for the Lord, your God, will
bless you for this in all your works and undertakings.
The poor will never be lacking in the land; that is why I command you to
open your hand to your poor.
Defend the lowly and the fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the lowly and the poor, from the hand of the wicked deliver them. Those who are just have a care for the rights of the poor; those who are wicked have no such concern.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those
bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke, setting
free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your
bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the
homeless, clothing the naked when you see them, and not
turning your back on your own. Give to the one who
begs of you. Jesus said, Let the one who has two coats give to the one who
has none. The one who has food should do the same. I ask you, how can
God's love survive in those who have enough of this world's goods and yet
they close their hearts to their brothers and when they see them in need?
Children, let us love in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it.
Jesus said, I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was
thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you
welcomed me, naked and you clothed Me, I was ill and
you comforted Me, in prison and you came to visit Me. I
assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least
brothers and sisters, you did it for Me.
I say to you, what you have
done to one of these least ones,
you have done to Me.
Scripture references: Isaiah 3:5; Proverbs 14:31; 28:3, 6; 21:21; Zechariah 8:10; Job 5:15-16; Psalm 9:19; James 2:5-6; Luke 6:20-21, 24-25; Luke 1:53; Luke 4:18; Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 15:7, 10-1; Psalm 82:3-4; Proverbs 29:7; Isaiah 58:6-7; Matthew 5:42; Luke 3:11; 1 John 3:17-18; Matthew 25:35, 40.
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