35 Bible Verses for Addressing Income Inequality

The growing gap between the rich and the poor feels like an unstoppable force in our modern world. While some accumulate unprecedented wealth, others work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities. Food banks serve working families, students graduate into crushing debt, and entire communities remain trapped in cycles of poverty. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by these injustices or wondered if God cares about economic disparity, you’re grappling with questions that have echoed through human history.

Income inequality isn’t just a political talking point or economic theory. It’s a deeply biblical concern that appears throughout Scripture with startling frequency and urgency. From the Mosaic Law’s provisions for the poor to Jesus’ teachings about wealth and justice, God consistently calls His people to create systems and cultures that protect the vulnerable and share resources generously.

These verses don’t offer simple solutions to complex problems, but they do provide a divine perspective on wealth, poverty, and our responsibility to each other. They challenge both the wealthy and the struggling to see economic justice as central to God’s kingdom vision for humanity.

Bible Verses for Addressing Income Inequality

1. Proverbs 31:8-9 – Speak Up for Those Who Cannot Speak

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

New International Version (NIV)

2. Isaiah 1:17 – Learn to Do Right; Seek Justice

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

English Standard Version (ESV)

3. Proverbs 22:16 – Oppressing the Poor to Increase Your Wealth

He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, And he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.

New King James Version (NKJV)

4. Luke 3:11 – Share with Those in Need

John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

New Living Translation (NLT)

5. Deuteronomy 15:7-8 – Do Not Be Hardhearted Toward the Poor

If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

6. Proverbs 14:31 – Whoever Oppresses the Poor Shows Contempt

He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7. James 2:5-6 – Has Not God Chosen the Poor to Be Rich in Faith

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

King James Version (KJV)

8. Luke 4:18-19 – Good News to the Poor

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

9. Matthew 19:21 – Go, Sell Your Possessions and Give to the Poor

Jesus said, “If you want to give it all you’ve got, go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. You’ll have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The Message (MSG)

10. 1 John 3:17 – If Anyone Has Material Possessions

But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11. Proverbs 19:17 – Lending to the Lord

The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.

New English Translation (NET)

12. Isaiah 58:6-7 – The Fast That I Choose

Is not this the fast I choose: to loose the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

13. Leviticus 25:35 – If Your Brother Becomes Poor

Suppose one of your people becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you; then help him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

14. Luke 12:33 – Sell Your Possessions and Give to the Poor

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.

Good News Translation (GNT)

15. Amos 5:24 – Let Justice Roll Like a River

Instead, let justice flow like water, and let goodness flow like a stream that never stops.

New Century Version (NCV)

16. 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 – Our Desire Is Not That Others Might Be Relieved

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

International Standard Version (ISV)

17. Psalm 82:3-4 – Defend the Weak and the Fatherless

Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and the helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

18. Jeremiah 22:16 – He Defended the Cause of the Poor and Needy

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? declares the Lord.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

19. Acts 2:44-47 – All the Believers Were Together

All who believed were together, and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people.

World English Bible (WEB)

20. Proverbs 22:2 – Rich and Poor Have This in Common

The rich and the poor meet together: Jehovah is the maker of them all.

American Standard Version (ASV)

21. Luke 6:20-21 – Blessed Are You Who Are Poor

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.”

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

22. James 5:1-4 – Warning to Rich Oppressors

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

New American Bible (NAB)

23. Ezekiel 16:49 – The Guilt of Your Sister Sodom

Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters: neither did she strengthen the hand of the needy and of the poor.

Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB)

24. Matthew 25:34-36 – I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

English Revised Version (ERV)

25. Proverbs 29:7 – The Righteous Care About Justice for the Poor

The righteous knoweth the judgment of the poor, The wicked understandeth not knowledge.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

26. Deuteronomy 24:14-15 – Do Not Take Advantage of a Hired Worker

Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy of thy brethren, or of thy sojourners who are in thy land within thy gates: in his day thou shalt give him his hire, that the sun go not down upon it; for he is poor, and his soul dependeth on it; lest he cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it be sin in thee.

Darby Translation (DARBY)

27. Job 31:16-17 – If I Have Denied the Desires of the Poor

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof.

Weymouth New Testament (WNT)

28. Leviticus 19:9-10 – Leave Some for the Poor and the Foreigner

And whanne thou schalt repe cornes of thi lond, thou schalt not kitte tho til to the ground, nether thou schalt gadere the eeris of corn that ben left; also in thi vyner thou schalt not gadere clustris and grapis fallynge doun, but thou schalt leeue to pore men and pilgrymys.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

29. Ecclesiastes 5:8 – Do Not Be Surprised at Oppression of the Poor

If in a prouince thou seest the poore oppressed by violence, and iudgement & iustice peruerted, maruell not at the matter: for he that is hie, regardeth him that is hie: and there be hie ones aboue them.

Geneva Bible (GNV)

30. Nehemiah 5:7-8 – You Are Exacting Interest from Your Own People

Then consulted I with my selfe, and contended with the rulers, and the nobles, and sayde vnto them, You cause euery one his brother to commit vsury. And I set a great assemblie against them. And I sayde vnto them, We (according to our habilitie) haue redeemed our brethren the Iewes, which were solde vnto the heathen: and will you sell your brethren againe, or shall they be solde vnto vs?

Bishop’s Bible

31. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 – Command the Rich Not to Be Arrogant

Charge them that are ryche in this worlde, that they be not hyghe mynded, and that they trust not in vncertayne ryches, but in the lyuyng god, which geueth vs aboundantly all thynges to enioye: that they do good and be ryche in good workes, and redy to geue, and glad to distribute.

Tyndale Bible

32. Psalm 140:12 – The Lord Secures Justice for the Poor

I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the poor.

The Living Bible (TLB)

33. Proverbs 21:13 – Whoever Shuts Their Ears to the Cry of the Poor

If you close your ears when the poor call for help, your own cry for help won’t be heard either.

The Passion Translation (TPT)

34. Micah 6:8 – What Does the Lord Require of You

People, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Eternal requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

The Voice Bible (VOICE)

35. Romans 12:13 – Share with the Lord’s People Who Are in Need

Share what you have with God’s people who are in need. Welcome others into your homes.

New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)

Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Income Inequality

Scripture doesn’t mince words when it comes to economic justice. The Bible contains over 2,000 verses about money, wealth, and poverty, making it one of the most frequently addressed topics. What emerges isn’t a single economic system but consistent principles about fairness, generosity, and protecting the vulnerable.

The biblical vision for economic relationships goes beyond charity to systemic justice. The Old Testament’s jubilee laws and sabbath year provisions were designed to prevent permanent inequality by regularly redistributing wealth and land. The New Testament church practiced radical sharing, meeting each other’s needs through voluntary generosity rather than enforced equality.

What strikes me most is how Scripture connects our treatment of the poor directly to our relationship with God. We can’t love God whom we haven’t seen while ignoring the suffering neighbor we can see. Economic justice isn’t optional Christian activism; it’s fundamental discipleship. The way we handle money and respond to inequality reveals the condition of our hearts and the authenticity of our faith.

Say This Prayer

God of justice and mercy, we confess that we live in a world of stark inequality, where some have abundance while others lack basic necessities. Forgive us for becoming comfortable with systems that favor the wealthy while crushing the poor. Open our eyes to see income inequality not as inevitable but as something You call us to address through Your wisdom and power.

Help us examine our own attitudes toward money and possessions. Show us where we’ve been selfish with resources You’ve entrusted to us. Convict us when we turn away from those in need or justify our indifference with empty excuses. Give us generous hearts that reflect Your character and compassionate hands that extend Your love.

Transform our communities to become places where the vulnerable are protected and everyone has the opportunity to flourish. Use us to advocate for just wages, fair policies, and economic systems that honor human dignity. When we see poverty, let us see You. When we encounter injustice, let us respond with Your heart.

Make us agents of Your kingdom where the first become last and the poor are lifted.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.