Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 14:31 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him. "
Proverbs 14:31
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
30 The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
32 The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
33 Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made known in the inward part of fools.
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God is pleased to take a greater interest in how the poor are treated than many would expect.
First, he counts it as an insult to himself when poor people are mistreated. Anyone who harms a poor person, taking advantage because that person has little power, should know that he is insulting his Maker. God made that person and gave him life, just as he is the Maker of us all. We all have one Father, one Maker. Job thought this way when he said, “Did not he who made me in the womb make him?” (Job 31:15). God also gives some people poverty as their lot. So if we treat the poor badly, we are acting as if God himself were wrong to put them in that position.
Second, God counts kindness shown to the poor as honor shown to himself. He takes such acts as done to him and responds with pleasure. “I was hungry, and you gave me food.” Those who truly honor God will show it by caring for the poor, whom he has taken in a special way under his protection and care.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 14:1
"Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."
Proverbs 14:2
"He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him."
Proverbs 14:3
"The fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them."
Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox."
Proverbs 14:5
"A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies."
Proverbs 14:6
"A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person."
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