Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. | Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. |
I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in 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. |
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For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether 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? |
Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—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 delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. | I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. |
No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the 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. |
Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. | 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. |
How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? | 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 inherited from parents, 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 makes rich; he brings low, 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 large 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 everything. | 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. |
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes? | 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 borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving. | The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers. |
The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. | Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. |
Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. | 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. |
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. | 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. |
Wealth is a ransom for a person's life, but the poor get no threats. | The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. |
You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. | Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me. |
“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us 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!” |