3 Bible Verses about Pleasure, Worldly

What benefit was it to me, from a human standpoint, if I fought wild animals in Ephesus, and [yet] the dead are not raised? [Note: This probably refers to Paul facing ferocious opposition from people there in Ephesus]. We should [just] eat and drink, for tomorrow we [may] die.

Also certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers approached him for discussion. Some asked, "What will this know-it-all have to say?" Others said, "He seems to be advocating [a belief in] some different gods." [They said this] because he was proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection [of the dead].

"Now there was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple [clothing] and soft linen [garments] and who lived every day in pleasure and luxury.

And a few days later, this younger son gathered everything together and traveled to a distant country where he squandered his possessions in wild living.

But when this son of yours came [home], after having squandered all you gave him on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

[Although] their talk is big, what they say is worthless, and by [offering people] fleshly desires [i.e., sexual gratification], they lead people astray, who are barely escaping from the error of the world.

You people have basked in luxury [here] on earth and lived lives devoted to pleasure. You have fattened yourselves [as sacrificial oxen] for the day of slaughter.

But when this son of yours came [home], after having squandered all you gave him on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

treacherous [i.e., betrayers], reckless, conceited, [and] lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

For we [Christians] were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various kinds of [evil] desires and [sinful] pleasures. [We used to] live in malice and envy, hating people and being hated by them.

You people have basked in luxury [here] on earth and lived lives devoted to pleasure. You have fattened yourselves [as sacrificial oxen] for the day of slaughter.

But the widow who devotes herself to unrestrained pleasure is [spiritually] dead, even while still living.

They suffer wrong themselves for doing wrong to other people. They consider it [especially] pleasurable to carry on their drunken revellings, [even] during the daytime. They become blots and blemishes [i.e., like spoiled food] in your fellowship meal, as they revel in their deceitful behavior.

And I will say to myself, 'Soul, you have plenty of goods [i.e., grain and supplies] stored up for many years, [so], take it easy; eat, drink and have fun.'

And those people [represented by the seed] that fell among thorns are the ones who have heard [the word], and as they go about their business, they become choked by worry, by money and by worldly pleasures, and produce no mature crop.