Proverbs 18:23

The poor must beg for mercy while the rich often reply harshly. The proverb soberly observes the harshness wealth can breed.

Cross-references · 13

• Jas 2:3and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”;
• Jas 1:9–11But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
• Jas 2:6But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
• Exod 5:2Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
• 1 Sam 25:17Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.”
• 2 Kgs 4:1–2Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”
• Isa 66:2For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
• Matt 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
• 1 Sam 25:10Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days.
• Gen 42:30“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country.
• 1 Sam 2:36It will happen, that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, “Please put me into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”
• Gen 42:7Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
• Ruth 2:7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.”

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.