As the scripture says, "He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever."

There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.

Some people spend their money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet grow poorer.

Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped.

When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the LORD, and the LORD will pay you back.

Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit.

Put your investments in several places---many places even---because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world.

Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.

But an honorable person acts honestly and stands firm for what is right.

Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.

if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon.

You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me.

But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.

Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide for yourselves purses that don't wear out, and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them, and no moth can destroy them.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is still one more thing you need to do. Sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."

Since Judas was in charge of the money bag, some of the disciples thought that Jesus had told him to go and buy what they needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.

and turn it over to the apostles; and the money was distributed according to the needs of the people.

I have shown you in all things that by working hard in this way we must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, 'There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.' "

Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.

For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God's people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.

And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.

Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat.

What good is there in your saying to them, "God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!"---if you don't give them the necessities of life?

This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever.

return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the LORD your God will be pleased with you.

Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors---for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did.

and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death."

And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home.

God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.

Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy."

He will break the power of the wicked, but the power of the righteous will be increased.

You have made me as strong as a wild ox; you have blessed me with happiness.

Hannah prayed: "The LORD has filled my heart with joy; how happy I am because of what he has done! I laugh at my enemies; how joyful I am because God has helped me!

I, the LORD God of Israel, promised in the past that your family and your clan would serve me as priests for all time. But now I say that I won't have it any longer! Instead, I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.