Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
The book of Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings, many written by or attributed to Solomon, a king of ancient Israel renowned for his wisdom. Unlike the dramatic stories or laws found elsewhere in the Bible, Proverbs was written to help ordinary people navigate everyday life — ethics, relationships, money, and how to treat others. This particular verse is bracingly simple: if you can do good for someone and you don't, that is a moral failure. The phrase translated "those who deserve it" can also carry the sense of "its rightful recipient" — the person who genuinely has a claim on your help or kindness. The verse doesn't let you off the hook with good intentions; it asks about your power and your choices.
God, forgive me for the good I've left undone — the moments I had the chance and let them quietly pass. Open my eyes to the people right in front of me, and give me the simple courage to act when I can. Help me close the gap between good intentions and good deeds. Amen.
The gap between meaning to help and actually helping is where a lot of life quietly leaks away. You thought about sending the message. You planned to drop off the meal. You intended to speak up for the person who needed an advocate in the room. And then Tuesday turned into Wednesday, and the moment passed, and the thought that once felt urgent dissolved into the background noise of a busy week. Proverbs has no patience for this kind of drift. The verse doesn't ask whether you're required to help — it asks a sharper question: when the ability to act and the opportunity to act arrive in the same moment, what do you do with that? This verse has a way of surfacing a face. There's almost always someone specific who comes to mind when you sit with it quietly — a friend who's gone unusually silent, a neighbor whose situation you've noticed and noted and not acted on, a colleague who needed one word of encouragement you kept meaning to give. Proverbs doesn't ask if you're in the mood, or if the timing is perfect, or if they'll appreciate it properly. It asks one question: is it in your power to act? If the answer is yes, then the only thing standing between you and doing good is the decision to do it. That's a short sentence with a long reach.
The verse specifically says "when it is in your power to act" — how does that phrase define and limit the scope of your responsibility toward others?
Think of a specific time you had the ability to do good for someone but didn't follow through. What got in the way — and how do you feel about it now?
This verse comes from wisdom literature, not a direct divine command. Does that make it feel more or less binding to you as a guide for how to live — and why?
How does the habit of consistently doing good for others — in small, unremarkable, unwitnessed ways — shape the kind of person you become over time?
Who is one specific person in your life right now who you could do something good for this week? What would that actually look like, concretely?
He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
Ecclesiastes 11:4
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Romans 13:7
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Matthew 5:42
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
James 2:15
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
James 2:16
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
James 5:4
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Galatians 6:10
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients], When it is in your power to do it.
AMP
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
ESV
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do [it].
NASB
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.
NIV
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
NKJV
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.
NLT
Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person.
MSG