If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
This verse comes from Proverbs, the ancient Israelite collection of practical wisdom for everyday life. It addresses one of the most difficult human situations imaginable: what to do when someone who has genuinely hurt you is now in need. The instruction is blunt — if your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they're thirsty, give them water. The verse doesn't require you to feel warmly toward them, reconcile immediately, or pretend the wound isn't real. It focuses on one concrete act of care. The apostle Paul later quotes this verse in Romans 12:20 and connects it to the idea that such unexpected generosity can be a powerful, disarming force. This was counter-cultural in the ancient world, and it remains genuinely difficult today.
God, you loved me when I was your enemy — and that still stops me in my tracks. Give me even a fraction of that love for the people who have hurt me. Help me to do the small, hard, right thing today, and trust you with what comes after. Amen.
Think of a specific name right now. Not a category — not 'people who've wronged me' — but an actual person. Someone who undercut you at work, or walked out of your life without explanation, or said something that still replays in your head during the quiet moments before sleep. Now imagine that person showing up at your door, broke and hungry. What happens in your chest? The Proverbs writer isn't naive about this. This instruction exists precisely because it runs against every self-protective instinct we have. We are wired to guard ourselves from people who've hurt us. But wisdom, it turns out, sometimes asks you to hand a sandwich to the very person you've been quietly rehearsing arguments against for months. This verse doesn't ask you to be a doormat, to minimize what happened, or to rush toward a reconciliation you're not ready for. It asks you to do one concrete, human thing: meet a need that's in front of you. And something strange tends to happen when you do. The act of caring — even for someone you'd rather avoid — has a way of loosening the grip that bitterness has on your chest. Enemies have power over us as long as we're quietly organizing our lives around resenting them. What if you handed them a glass of water instead? Not because they deserve it. Because you do.
The verse focuses on concrete physical needs — hunger and thirst — rather than emotional reconciliation or forgiveness. Why do you think the writer frames it that way, and what does that tell you about how wisdom approaches conflict?
Who in your life is hardest to show any kindness to right now? What specifically makes them feel like an 'enemy' to you?
This verse seems to assume you will have enemies — it's not 'if' but 'when.' How does that assumption sit with you? Does it normalize something you've been ashamed of, or challenge you in a different way?
How might consistently choosing small acts of generosity toward difficult people change the dynamics in your family, workplace, or neighborhood over time?
What is one specific, practical act of care you could offer this week to someone who has hurt or frustrated you — not to fix the relationship, but simply because this proverb asks you to?
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
Proverbs 19:11
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luke 6:27
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isaiah 58:7
If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Exodus 23:5
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Proverbs 24:17
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Romans 12:20
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
AMP
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
ESV
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
NASB
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
NIV
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
NKJV
If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
NLT
If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch; if he's thirsty, bring him a drink.
MSG