What does the Bible say about tithing?

Bible Topic · WEB

The Bible teaches that giving to God should be faithful, generous, willing, and rooted in gratitude for his grace, not in an attempt to earn his favor. Under the old covenant, the tithe belonged to the Lord, and Malachi 3:8-10 rebukes withholding what God commanded while calling his people to trust his provision. Proverbs 3:9 urges honoring the Lord with our wealth, while Genesis 28:20-22 shows Jacob’s vowed response to God’s faithfulness. In the new covenant, Christ emphasizes justice, mercy, and faithfulness alongside outward giving in Matthew 23:23. He commends the widow’s sacrificial devotion in Mark 12:41-44 and warns against giving for human praise in Matthew 6:1-4. Believers are to give cheerfully and freely, trusting God to supply every need, as 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 teaches.

Top passages, ranked by readers

Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible

  • Malachi 3:8-10 5 votes

    Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for.

  • 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 4 votes

    Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.

  • Proverbs 3:9 3 votes

    Honor Yahweh with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase;

  • Luke 6:38 3 votes

    “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

  • Leviticus 27:30 3 votes

    “‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh.

  • Mark 12:41-44 3 votes

    Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. A poor widow came and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin. He called his disciples to himself and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”

  • Matthew 23:23 3 votes

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

  • Malachi 3:8 2 votes

    Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.

  • Genesis 28:20-22 2 votes

    Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”

  • Matthew 6:1-4 2 votes

    “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

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