Jeremiah 17:11
New Living Translation
Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,
so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.
At midlife they will lose their riches;
in the end, they will become poor old fools.
Proverbs 28:20
New Living Translation
20 The trustworthy person will get a rich reward,
but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.
Proverbs 28:8
New Living Translation
8 Income from charging high interest rates
will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.
Proverbs 21:6
New Living Translation
6 Wealth created by a lying tongue
is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.[a]
Footnotes
- 21:6 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads mist for those who seek death.
Proverbs 15:27
New Living Translation
27 Greed brings grief to the whole family,
but those who hate bribes will live.
2 Peter 2:14
New Living Translation
14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.
Read full chapter
Luke 12:20
New Living Translation
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
Read full chapter
Zechariah 7:9-13
New Living Translation
9 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.
11 “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. 12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.
13 “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Read full chapter
Zephaniah 1:9
New Living Translation
9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies,
and those who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
Habakkuk 2:6-12
New Living Translation
6 “But soon their captives will taunt them.
They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
but how much longer can this go on?’
7 Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
They will turn on you and take all you have,
while you stand trembling and helpless.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.
9 “What sorrow awaits you who build big houses
with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
10 But by the murders you committed,
you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
11 The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
12 “What sorrow awaits you who build cities
with money gained through murder and corruption!
Micah 2:1-2
New Living Translation
Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors
2 What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,
thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,
simply because you have the power to do so.
2 When you want a piece of land,
you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house,
you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property,
stealing his family’s inheritance.
Jeremiah 22:17
New Living Translation
17 “But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty!
You murder the innocent,
oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”
Jeremiah 22:13
New Living Translation
A Message about Jehoiakim
13 And the Lord says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim,[a]
who builds his palace with forced labor.[b]
He builds injustice into its walls,
for he makes his neighbors work for nothing.
He does not pay them for their labor.
Ecclesiastes 5:13-16
New Living Translation
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
Read full chapter
Proverbs 28:22
New Living Translation
22 Greedy people try to get rich quick
but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.
Proverbs 13:11
New Living Translation
11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears;
wealth from hard work grows over time.
Psalm 55:23
New Living Translation
23 But you, O God, will send the wicked
down to the pit of destruction.
Murderers and liars will die young,
but I am trusting you to save me.
2 Peter 2:3
New Living Translation
3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
Read full chapter
James 5:3-5
New Living Translation
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
Read full chapter
Titus 1:11
New Living Translation
11 They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money.
Read full chapter
1 Timothy 6:9
New Living Translation
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Read full chapter
Matthew 23:13
New Living Translation
13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 23:13 Some manuscripts add verse 14, What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely punished. Compare Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Malachi 3:5
New Living Translation
5 “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Read full chapter
Zechariah 5:4
New Living Translation
4 And this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it—even its timbers and stones.”
Read full chapter
Micah 7:3
New Living Translation
3 Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
and together they scheme to twist justice.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.