For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
- BSB For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.
- NKJV For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’
- NASB For the poor will not cease to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’
- NLT There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because poverty would never fully disappear, God commanded ongoing open-handedness toward the poor. Need will persist, so generosity must be a settled way of life.
Overview
This realistic counterpart to verse 4 acknowledges that human sin means the poor will always be present. Rather than excusing neglect, it grounds a permanent obligation to give. Jesus quotes this verse to affirm both that the poor remain with us and that devotion to him does not cancel but informs our care for them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 26:11For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
- Mark 14:7For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
- John 12:8For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
- Deut 15:8But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
- 1 Jn 3:16–18Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
- Prov 22:2The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
- Acts 4:32–35And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
- Luke 12:33Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
- Acts 2:45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
- 2 Cor 8:2–9How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
- Matt 5:42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
- Acts 11:28–30And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 15:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.