28 Bible Verses about Avoiding Deceit

“When anyone sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor (companion, associate) in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor,

or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do—

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

He who practices deceit will not dwell in my house;
He who tells lies and half-truths will not continue [to remain] in my presence.

Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.

For,“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).

Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
And do not deceive with your lips [speak neither lies nor half-truths].

Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth,
And put devious lips far from you.

So put aside every trace of malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander and hateful speech;

O sons of men, how long will my honor and glory be [turned into] shame?
How long will you [my enemies] love worthless (vain, futile) things and seek deception and lies? Selah.

“The remnant of Israel will do no wrong
Nor speak lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will eat and lie down
With no one to make them tremble and feel afraid.”

that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires,

For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand;

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments [that encourage you to sin], for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [those who habitually sin].

Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed],

Little children (believers, dear ones), do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in public—and to conform to God’s precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous.

I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive [but thoroughly deceptive] arguments.

Keep deception and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,

Hear the just (righteous) cause, O Lord; listen to my loud [piercing] cry;
Listen to my prayer, that comes from guileless lips.

For our appeal does not come from delusion or impure motives, nor [is it motivated] by deceit [our message is complete, accurate, and based on the truth—it does not change].

amid glory and dishonor; by evil report and good report; branded as deceivers and yet [vindicated as] truthful;

My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.

Rescue my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
And from a deceitful tongue.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your [false] prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you; pay no attention and attach no significance to the dreams which they dream or to yours,

And in that day the [false] prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not wear a hairy robe [of true prophets] in order to deceive,