Proverbs 14:21
He that despiseth his neighbour, doeth sin; but he that doeth mercy to a poor man, shall be blessed.
Wycliffe Modern Spelling
In The King James Version
He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
In Context
Cross References
Job 31:13If I despised to take doom with my servant and with mine handmaid, when they strived against me. (If I despised to do justly with my slave, or with my slave-girl, when they complained against me,)
Psalms 22:24for he forsook not, neither despised the prayer of a poor man. Neither he turned away his face from me; and when I cried to him, he heard me. (for he forsook not, nor despised the prayer of the poor man. Nor hath he turned his face away from him; but when he cried to him, he answered him.)
Psalms 41:2The Lord keep him, and quicken him, and make him blessful in the land; and betake not him into the will of his enemies. (The Lord shall keep him safe, and alive, and make him happy in the land; and he shall not deliver him unto the power, or the will, of his enemies.)
Psalms 112:9He spreaded abroad, he gave to poor men; his rightwiseness dwelleth into the world of world; his horn shall be raised in glory. (He spreadeth abroad much money, yea, he giveth to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever and ever, his horn shall be raised up in glory.)
Proverbs 11:24Some men part their own things, and be made richer; other men ravish things, that be not theirs, and they be ever in neediness. (Some people share their own things, and grow richer; other people steal things, that be not theirs, and still they always be in need.)
Proverbs 17:5He that despiseth a poor man, reproveth his maker; and he that is glad in the falling of another man, shall not be unpunished. (He who despiseth the poor, rebuketh his Maker; and he who is glad in the falling of another person, shall not go unpunished.)
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 14:21
20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends. This shows, not what should be, but what is the common way of the world—to be shy of the poor and fond of the rich. 1. Few will give countenance to those whom the world frowns upon, though otherwise worthy of respect: The poor, who should be pitied, and encouraged, and relieved, is hated, looked strange upon, and kept at a distance, even by his own neighbour, who, before he fell into disgrace, was intimate with him and pretended to… Read the whole commentary →