“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save.
My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.
I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build.
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless.
“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.