Covetousness: General Scriptures Concerning

Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

…and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.

If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,

…if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,

…this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.

For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.

Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

The people will curse the hoarder of grain, but blessing will crown the one who sells it.

He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.

The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.

All day long he covets more, but the righteous give without restraint.

Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.

Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” …

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.

Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.

“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”

“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”

You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.

In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.

Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.

They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly.

Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

…and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own. …

You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. …

No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ …

The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables: …

…but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, …

Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up!”

And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” …

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. …

Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

…nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!

…not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

…and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain. …

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

…who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” …

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. …

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. …

Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.