For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.
- BSB For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise His captive people.
- NKJV For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.
- NASB For the Lord hears the needy, And does not despise those of His who are prisoners.
- NLT For the Lord hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people.
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
The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his imprisoned people. It assures the afflicted that God attends to them.
Overview
David affirms that God listens to the poor and does not scorn those of his people who are bound or captive. God's special care for the lowly and oppressed runs throughout Scripture. This compassion finds its fullest expression in Christ, who came to proclaim liberty to captives and good news to the poor (Luke 4:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Acts 5:18–19And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
- Ps 68:6God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
- Zech 9:11–12As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
- Rev 2:10Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
- Ps 146:7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
- Luke 4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
- Eph 3:1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
- Ps 12:5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
- Acts 12:4–11And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
- Ps 10:17LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
- Ps 102:20To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
- Ps 102:17He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
- Ps 34:6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- Ps 72:12–14For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
- Isa 66:2For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
- Ps 107:10Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
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
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 69:33 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.