Psalm 49:10
New Living Translation
10 Those who are wise must finally die,
just like the foolish and senseless,
leaving all their wealth behind.
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
Psalm 39:6
New Living Translation
6 We are merely moving shadows,
and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
not knowing who will spend it.
Hebrews 9:27
New Living Translation
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
Read full chapter
Proverbs 30:2
New Living Translation
2 I am too stupid to be human,
and I lack common sense.
Psalm 94:8
New Living Translation
8 Think again, you fools!
When will you finally catch on?
Psalm 73:22
New Living Translation
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
New Living Translation
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
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. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Read full chapter
Romans 5:12-14
New Living Translation
Adam and Christ Contrasted
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
Read full chapter
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.
Jeremiah 10:8
New Living Translation
8 People who worship idols are stupid and foolish.
The things they worship are made of wood!
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2
New Living Translation
Death Comes to All
9 This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. 2 The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad,[a] ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 9:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks or bad.
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
Ecclesiastes 2:26
New Living Translation
26 God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Read full chapter
Ecclesiastes 2:16-21
New Living Translation
16 For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.
17 So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
The Futility of Work
18 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! 20 So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.
21 Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.
Read full chapter
Proverbs 12:1
New Living Translation
12 To learn, you must love discipline;
it is stupid to hate correction.
Proverbs 11:4
New Living Translation
4 Riches won’t help on the day of judgment,
but right living can save you from death.
Psalm 92:6-7
New Living Translation
6 Only a simpleton would not know,
and only a fool would not understand this:
7 Though the wicked sprout like weeds
and evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
Psalm 49:17
New Living Translation
17 For when they die, they take nothing with them.
Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.
Psalm 17:14
New Living Translation
14 By the power of your hand, O Lord,
destroy those who look to this world for their reward.
But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones.
May their children have plenty,
leaving an inheritance for their descendants.
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.
Bible Gateway Recommends
