9 Bible Verses about Neglect

Do not be careless about the gifts with which you are endowed, which were conferred on you through a divine revelation when the hands of the elders were placed upon you.

"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.

"But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others.

"Why, it is like a man who, when going on his travels, called his bondservants and entrusted his property to their care. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one--to each according to his individual capacity; and then started from home. Without delay the one who had received the five talents went and employed them in business, and gained five more.read more.
In the same way he who had the two gained two more. But the man who had received the one went and dug a hole and buried his master's money. "After a long lapse of time the master of those servants returned, and had a reckoning with them. The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, and said, "'Sir, it was five talents that you entrusted to me: see, I have gained five more.' "'You have done well, good and trustworthy servant,' replied his master; 'you have been trustworthy in the management of a little, I will put you in charge of much: share your master's joy.' "The second, who had received the two talents, came and said, "'Sir, it was two talents you entrusted to me: see, I have gained two more.' "'Good and trustworthy servant, you have done well,' his master replied; 'you have been trustworthy in the management of a little, I will put you in charge of much: share your master's joy.' "But, next, the man who had the one talent in his keeping came and said, "'Sir, I knew you to be a severe man, reaping where you had not sown and garnering what you had not winnowed. So being afraid I went and buried your talent in the ground: there you have what belongs to you.' "'You wicked and slothful servant,' replied his master, 'did you know that I reap where I have not sown, and garner what I have not winnowed? Your duty then was to deposit my money in some bank, and so when I came I should have got back my property with interest. So take away the talent from him, and give it to the man who has the ten.' (For to every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken away.) But as for this worthless servant, put him out into the darkness outside: *there* will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.'

So He said to them, "A man of noble family travelled to a distant country to obtain the rank of king, and to return. And he called ten of his servants and gave each of them a pound, instructing them to trade with the money during his absence. "Now his countrymen hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, 'We are not willing that he should become our king.'read more.
And upon his return, after he had obtained the sovereignty, he ordered those servants to whom he had given the money to be summoned before him, that he might learn their success in trading. "So the first came and said, "'Sir, your pound has produced ten pounds more.' "'Well done, good servant,' he replied; 'because you have been faithful in a very small matter, be in authority over ten towns.' "The second came, and said, "'Your pound, Sir, has produced five pounds.' "So he said to this one also, "'And you, be the governor of five towns.' "The next came. "'Sir,' he said, 'here is your pound, which I have kept wrapt up in a cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man: you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.' "'By your own words,' he replied, 'I will judge you, you bad servant. You knew me to be a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow: why then did you not put my money into a bank, that when I came I might have received it back with interest? "And he said to those who stood by, "'Take the pound from him and give it to him who has the ten pounds.' ("They said to him, "`Sir, he already has ten pounds.') "'I tell you that to every one who has anything, more shall be given; and from him who has not anything, even what he has shall be taken away.

"Have your girdles on, and let your lamps be alight; and be yourselves like men waiting for their master--on the look-out till he shall return from the wedding feast--that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door instantly. Blessed are those servants, whom their Master when He comes shall find on the watch. I tell you in solemn truth, that He will tie an apron round Him, and will bid them recline at table while He comes and waits on them.read more.
And whether it be in the second watch or in the third that He comes and finds them so, blessed are they. Of this be sure, that if the master of the house had known what time the robber was coming, he would have kept awake and not have allowed his house to be broken into. Be you also ready, for at an hour when you are not expecting Him the Son of Man will come." "Master," said Peter, "are you addressing this parable to us, or to all alike?" "Who, then," replied the Lord, "is the faithful and intelligent steward whom his Master will put in charge of His household to serve out their rations at the proper times? Blessed is that servant whom his Master when He comes shall find so doing. I tell you truly that He will put him in authority over all His possessions. But if that servant should say in his heart, 'My Master is a long time in coming,' and should begin to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink, drinking even to excess; that servant's Master will come on a day when he is not expecting Him and at an hour that he knows not of, and will punish him severely, and make him share the lot of the unfaithful. And that servant who has been told his Master's will and yet made no preparation and did not obey His will, will receive many lashes. But he who had not been told it and yet did what deserved the scourge, will receive but few lashes. To whomsoever much has been given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been entrusted, of him a larger amount will be demanded.

For this reason we ought to pay the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, for fear we should drift away from them. For if the message delivered through angels proved to be true, and every transgression and act of disobedience met with just retribution, how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made sure to us by those who heard Him,read more.
while God corroborated their testimony by signs and marvels and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed in accordance with His own will.

not neglecting--as some habitually do--to meet together, but encouraging one another, and doing this all the more since you can see the day of Christ approaching.

About this time, as the number of disciples was increasing, complaints were made by the Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were habitually overlooked in the daily ministration. So the Twelve called together the general body of the disciples and said, "It does not seem fitting that we Apostles should neglect the delivery of God's Message and minister at tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among yourselves seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will appoint them to undertake this duty.read more.
But, as for us, we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the delivery of the Message."