Proverbs 11:17

⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

³⁴Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

⁴⁰“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,^[+] you did it to me.’

¹³For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴“^[+] For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

⁶Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. ⁹As it is written, “He has scattered abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.”

¹⁰Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹you being enriched in everything for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. ¹²For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, ¹³seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you.

²⁷Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”

¹⁷Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

¹Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. ²Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. ⁴Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.^5[+] You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

¹Blessed is he who considers the poor. The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil. ²The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies. ³The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness. ⁴I said, “LORD, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

⁷Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard. ⁹Then you will call, and the LORD will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly; ¹⁰and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; ¹¹and the LORD will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail. ¹²Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.