| For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? | But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? |
| I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. | I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. |
| Ill-gotten gains do not benefit, But righteousness rescues from death. | Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. |
| Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. | And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. |
| I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. | I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. |
| No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. | No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. |
| Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. | Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. |
| But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? | If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? |
| House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord. | Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife. |
| The Lord makes poor and rich; He humbles, He also exalts. | The Lord makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up. |
| Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice. | Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. |
| As sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. | Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. |
| The Lord also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
| When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look at them? | The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! |
| The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives. | The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers. |
| The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. | Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. |
| And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. | The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. |
| Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. | Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. |
| You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. | Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me. |
| But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” | Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” |
| The ransom of a person’s life is his wealth, But the poor hears no rebuke. | The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. |
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Bible verse of the day
A prudent person sees evil and hides himself;But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.