He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty.
Parallel translations
- KJV He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
- BSB He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
- NKJV He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
- NASB “He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent the rich away empty-handed.
- NLT He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.
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
God fills the hungry with good things but sends the rich away empty. He satisfies the needy and humbles the self-sufficient.
Overview
Mary celebrates God's care for the hungry and his rejection of the self-satisfied rich. The contrast highlights grace given to those who depend on God. This anticipates Jesus' ministry to the poor and his warnings to the complacent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 107:8–9Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
- Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
- Ps 34:10The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
- Rev 7:16–17They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat;
- Matt 5:6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
- Luke 6:24“But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation.
- 1 Cor 1:26For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
- John 6:35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
- Jas 5:1–6Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
- Jas 2:5–6Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Luke 18:24–25Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
- Rev 3:17–18Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;
- John 6:11–13Jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired.
- 1 Cor 4:8You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you.
- Ps 146:7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.
- Ezek 34:29I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.
- Luke 16:19–25“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
- Luke 18:11–14The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
- 1 Sam 2:5Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes.
- Luke 12:16–21He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:53 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.