��������

The Bible contains countless verses about generosity and giving. From the Jewish law and wisdom literature to Jesus and the apostles, God makes His clear.

All verses are shown in the NIV translation.

Old Testament verses about generosity

– When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

– If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.

– They [the righteous] are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.

– Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.

– One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

– Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

– Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

– The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

– “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

What Jesus says about generosity

– So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

– And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.

– For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. … Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

– Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.

– Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(More) New Testament verses about generosity

– “What should we do, then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

– And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

– In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

– Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

– Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. … You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

– Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

– Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

– And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

– Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

– Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

– If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?