Proverbs 19:17
Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
BSB
ASV
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah, And his good deed will he pay him again.
KJV
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Commentary (church-history corpus) (379)
If you help a poor person in the Name of the Lord, you are making a gift and at the same time granting a loan. You are making a gift because you have no expectation of being reimbursed by that poor person. You are granting a loan because the Lord will settle the account. It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but He will pay a great deal on their behalf.
Note the original greatness of the thought. We give to the poor. Have we lost our gift? No, what we gave, we have lent to One who will repay with usury. Compare the yet nobler truth of our Lord’s teaching Mat 25:40.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured…
leads to
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything…
He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Through
Matthew 25:40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
leads to
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
Through
Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
leads to
And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.