77 Bible Verses about Materialism, As An Aspect Of Sin

When the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food and that it [was] a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave [it] also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the likeness of an image of mortal human beings and birds and quadrupeds and reptiles.

Why should the nations say, "Where, {pray tell}, [is] their God?" But our God [is] in the heavens; all that he desires, he does. Their idols [are] silver and gold, [the] work of human hands.read more.
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; [they have] their hands, but they cannot feel, their feet, but they cannot walk; they cannot utter a sound in their throats. [Those who] make them become like them, [as does] everyone who trusts in them.

All those who form an idol [are] nothing, and their delightful things do not profit. And their witnesses do not see or know, so they will be ashamed. Who would form a god and cast an image of [which] he cannot profit? Look! all his companions shall be ashamed, and [the] artisans [are] human! Let all of them assemble; let them stand up. They shall tremble; they shall be ashamed together.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold. Its height [was] sixty cubits [and] its width [was] six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura in the province of Babylon.

What value [is] an idol when its carver has fashioned it, a molten idol, a teacher of lies? For [he who] fashioned his creation trusts in it, [though] making mute idols!

Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him [when he] observed the city was full of idols.

for people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

"You shall not make for yourself a divine image [with] any form that [is] in the heavens above or that [is] in the earth below or that [is] in the water below the earth. You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I [am] Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing [the] guilt of [the] parents on the children on [the] third and on [the] fourth [generations] of those hating me,

And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

" 'You shall not make for yourselves idols and divine images, and you shall not raise up stone pillars for yourselves, and you shall not put a sculptured stone in your land in order to worship before it, because I [am] Yahweh your God.

"So {you must be very careful for yourselves}, because you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, so that you [do] not {ruin yourselves} and make for yourselves a divine image [in] a form of any image, a replica of male or female, a replica of any animal that [is] upon the earth, a replica of any winged bird that flies in the air,read more.
a replica of any creeping thing on the ground, a replica of any fish that [is] in the water {below} the earth. {And do this so that you do not lift} your eyes [toward] heaven and {observe} the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all [of] the peoples under all [of] the heaven.

You shall burn the images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet [the] silver or gold [that is] on them, and [so] you take [it] for yourself, so that you are not ensnared by it, for it [is] a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite; from the nations which Yahweh had said to the {Israelites}, "You shall not {marry them}, and they shall not {marry you}. They will certainly turn your heart after other gods." But Solomon clung to them to love. He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.read more.
It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been]. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully [follow] after Yahweh as David his father.

They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a cast image. And [so] they exchanged their glory for an image of an ox that eats grass.

I [am] Yahweh; that [is] my name, and I do not give my glory to another, nor my praise to the idols.

Has a nation exchanged gods? And they [are] not gods! But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, heavens, at this, and shudder; be utterly desolate," {declares} Yahweh. "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

And wealth and glory [are] from you, and you rule over all. And in your hand [is] power and might. And in your hand [is power] to make great and to give strength to all.

Now Abram [was] very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in that [same] year a hundredfold, and Yahweh blessed him. And the man {became wealthier and wealthier} until he was exceedingly wealthy.

But you must remember Yahweh your God, for he [is] the [one] giving you strength to acquire wealth in order to confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors {as it is today}.

And he made cities for himself, and livestock of sheep and abundant cattle, for God had given to him very abundant possessions.

Praise Yah! Blessed [is the] man [who] fears Yahweh; he takes great delight in his commands. His {descendants} will be mighty in the land; [the] generation of [the] upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches [are] in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

The blessing of Yahweh makes [one] rich, and he does not increase sorrow with it.

But she did not know that [it was] I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and who gave her silver in abundance, and gold which they made into a Baal.

and your herds and your flocks have multiplied, and {you have accumulated silver and gold}, and all that {you have} has multiplied, then your heart {becomes proud} and you forget Yahweh your God, {the one who brought you out} from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery,

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, [because they] desire [it], have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

"If I have made gold my trust, or I have called fine gold my security, if I have rejoiced because my wealth [was] great or because my hand found a fortune, if I looked at [the] sun when it shone or [at the] moon moving [in] splendor,read more.
and {I was secretly enticed}, and {my hand threw them a kiss}, this also [is] an iniquity [to be] judged, for I have deceived God above.

By the abundance of your wisdom in your trading you [have] increased your wealth and your heart was proud in your wealth." '"

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me." But [when] the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.

And [when he] heard [this], Jesus said to him, "{You still lack one thing}: Sell all that you have, and distribute [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me." But [when he] heard these [things] he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.

Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests [and] said, "What are you willing to give me if I in turn deliver him to you?" So they set out for him thirty silver coins. And from that time on, he began seeking a favorable opportunity in order that he could betray him.

But whoever has the world's material possessions and observes his brother {in need} and shuts his heart against him, how does the love of God reside in him?

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich person will enter into the kingdom of heaven! And again I say to you, it is easier [for] a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person into the kingdom of God."

And the disciples were astounded at his words. But Jesus answered [and] said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier [for] a camel to go through the eye of a needle than [for] a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God."

And Jesus took notice of him [and] said, "How {difficult it is for} those who possess wealth to enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier [for] a camel to go through the eye of a needle than [for] a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.

And what was sown into the thorn plants--this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unproductive.

And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants--these are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other [things] come in [and] choke the word and it becomes unproductive.

And the [seed] that fell into the thorn plants--these are the ones who hear and [as they] go along are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear fruit to maturity.

Command those [who are] rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all [things] richly for enjoyment, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of [what is] truly life.

For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?read more.
Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Come now, you rich people, weep [and] cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your wealth has rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.read more.
Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived self-indulgently on the earth and have lived luxuriously. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous [person]; he does not resist you.

For riches [are] not forever, nor a crown for generation [after] generation.

{Surely} our foe perishes, and fire has consumed their remainder.

For he sees [that] the wise die, together [with the] fool and brute they perish, and leave their wealth to the next [generation].

A {reputation} [is] to be chosen {rather than} great riches; {favor is better than silver and gold}. Rich and poor have [much] in common; Yahweh is the maker of all of them.

Your eyes will {alight} on it, but there is nothing [to] it, for suddenly it will make for itself wings like an eagle and it will be exhausted [in] the heavens.

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your life is demanded from you, and [the things] which you have prepared--whose will they be?' So [is] the one who stores up treasure for himself, and who is not rich toward God!"

For we have brought nothing into the world, so that neither can we bring anything out.

And so then, thus says Yahweh of hosts: '{Consider your ways}! You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without [being] satisfied; {you have drunk without being satiated}; you have worn clothes without [being] warm; the one who earns wages puts it in {a pouch with holes}.'

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and consuming [insect] destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard that it may be mine for a garden of vegetable plants, because it is near, beside my house, and I will give to you a better vineyard in place of it. If it is better in your eyes, I will give you the money of its price." Naboth said to Ahab, "Far be it from me from Yahweh that I should give the inheritance of my ancestors to you." Then Ahab went to his house, sullen and angry because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him [when] he had said, "I will not give to you the inheritance of my ancestors." So he lay on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat [any] food.

"You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you will not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that [is] your neighbor's."

'And you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor, and you shall not crave the house of your neighbor, his field or his slave or his slave woman or his ox and his donkey or anything {that belongs to your neighbor}.'

But the {Israelites} broke faith concerning the devoted things. Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things; and {Yahweh's anger was kindled} against the {Israelites}.

King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom. All of the earth [was] seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. They [were] each bringing his gift; objects of silver and objects of gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. {This used to happen year after year}.read more.
Solomon gathered chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed them in the cities of the chariots and with the king in Jerusalem. The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance.

For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?

For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a person give in exchange for his life?

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me, this person will save it. For what is a person benefited [if he] gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For [what is] [considered] exalted among men [is] an abomination in the sight of God.

Now let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his high position, but the rich person in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a flower of the grass. For the sun rises with its burning heat and dries up the grass, and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is lost. So also the rich person in his pursuits will wither away.

Because you are saying, "I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked,

And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky [have] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky [have] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay [his] head."

Think this in yourselves which [was] also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped,

And he said to them, "Watch out and guard yourselves from all greediness, because not [even] when someone has an abundance {does} his life [consist] of his possessions."

Thus says Yahweh, "[The] wise man must not boast in his wisdom, and the warrior must not boast in his might, [the] wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. {But only} in this must the one who boasts boast, [that] he has insight, and [that] he knows me, that I [am] Yahweh, showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these [things] I delight," {declares} Yahweh.

"For this [reason] I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body [more than] clothing? Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather [produce] into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they [are]? And who among you, [by] being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span?read more.
And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, [although it] is [here] today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not [do so] much more [for] you, you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?,' for the pagans seek after all these [things]. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these [things].

Your lifestyle [must be] free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, "I will never desert you, and I will never abandon you."

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything [that is] in the world--the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance of material possessions--is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains {forever}.

Then Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there not be quarreling between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we men [are] brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If [you want what is on] the left, then I will go right; if [you want what is on] the right, I will go left."

{that neither a thread nor} a thong of a sandal would I take from all that [belongs] to you, that you might not say, 'I made Abram rich.'

But Peter said, "Silver and gold {I do not possess}, but what I have, this I give to you--in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!"

Now the group of those who believed were one heart and soul, and no one said anything of what belonged to him was his own, but all [things] were theirs in common. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony [to] the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. For there was not even anyone needy among them, because all those who were owners of plots of land or houses were selling [them] [and] bringing the proceeds of the things that were soldread more.
and placing [them] at the feet of the apostles. And it was being distributed to each as anyone had need. So Joseph, who was called Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated "son of encouragement"), a Levite of Cyprus by nationality, sold a field that belonged to him [and] brought the money and placed [it] at the feet of the apostles.

Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever [circumstances] I am. I know [how] both {to make do with little} and I know [how] {to have an abundance}. In everything and in all [things] I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both {to have an abundance} and to go without.