Proverbs 22:9

The Message

Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor.

Cross References

Proverbs 11:17

When you’re kind to others, you help yourself; when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.

Proverbs 11:25

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

Proverbs 11:27

The one who seeks good finds delight; the student of evil becomes evil.

Proverbs 14:21

It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor—what a blessing!

Proverbs 19:17

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

Proverbs 21:13

If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor, your cries will go unheard, unanswered.

Proverbs 28:24

Anyone who robs father and mother and says, “So, what’s wrong with that?” is worse than a pirate.

Proverbs 28:27

Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry; shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.

Deuteronomy 28:56

And the most gentle and caring woman among you, a woman who wouldn’t step on a wildflower, will turn hard, her eye evil, against her cherished husband, against her son, against her daughter, against even the afterbirth of her newborn infants; she plans to eat them in secret—she does eat them!—because she has lost everything, even her humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns.

Hebrews 13:16

Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.