40 Bible Verses about Pretence

At that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, became ill. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Now come, put on different clothing so that you may not seem to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; see, Ahijah is there, the prophet who said I would be king over this people. And take with you ten cakes of bread and dry cakes and a pot of honey, and go to him: he will give you word of what is to become of the child.read more.
So Jeroboam's wife did so, and got up and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah was unable to see, because he was very old. And the Lord had said to Ahijah, The wife of Jeroboam is coming to get news from you about her son, who is ill; give her such and such an answer; for she will make herself seem to be another woman. Then Ahijah, hearing the sound of her footsteps coming in at the door, said, Come in, O wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself seem like another? for I am sent to you with bitter news.

Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing. Then Esau went out to get the meat. And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your brother Esau in my hearing, Go and get some roe's meat and make me a good meal, so that I may be full, and give you my blessing before the Lord before my death.read more.
Now, my son, do what I say. Go to the flock and get me two fat young goats; and I will make of them a meal to your father's taste: And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal and give you his blessing before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is covered with hair, while I am smooth: If by chance my father puts his hand on me, it will seem to him that I am tricking him, and he will put a curse on me in place of a blessing. And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do as I say, and go and get them for me. So he went and got them and took them to his mother: and she made a meal to his father's taste. And Rebekah took the fair robes of her oldest son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son: And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck: And she gave into the hand of Jacob, her son, the meat and the bread which she had made ready. And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who are you, my son? And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah's eyes were clouded, but Rachel was fair in face and form. And Jacob was in love with Rachel; and he said, I will be your servant seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.read more.
And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another man: go on living here with me. And Jacob did seven years' work for Rachel; and because of his love for her it seemed to him only a very little time. Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife so that I may have her, for the days are ended. And Laban got together all the men of the place and gave a feast. And in the evening he took Leah, his daughter, and gave her to him, and he went in to her. And Laban gave Zilpah, his servant-girl, to Leah, to be her waiting-woman. And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me?

And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting, She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife. When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered.read more.
And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price?

Now it was clear to Joab, the son of Zeruiah, that the king's heart was turning to Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead: And come to the king and say these words to him. So Joab gave her words to say.

And when Joseph saw his brothers, it was clear to him who they were, but he made himself strange to them, and talking roughly to them, said, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to get food.

But the sons of Jacob gave a false answer to Shechem and Hamor his father, because of what had been done to Dinah their sister. And they said, It is not possible for us to give our sister to one who is without circumcision, for that would be a cause of shame to us: But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes circumcision;

Now after this, it came about that Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and David's son Amnon was in love with her. And he was so deeply in love that he became ill because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin, and so it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother: and Jonadab was a very wise man.read more.
And he said to him, O son of the king, why are you getting thinner day by day? will you not say what your trouble is? And Amnon said to him, I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. Then Jonadab said to him, Go to your bed, and let it seem that you are ill: and when your father comes to see you, say to him, Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread, and get the food ready before my eyes, so that I may see it and take it from her hand. So Amnon went to bed and made himself seem ill: and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let my sister Tamar come and make me one or two cakes before my eyes, so that I may take food from her hand. Then David sent to the house for Tamar and said, Go now to your brother Amnon's house and get a meal for him. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was in bed. And she took paste and made cakes before his eyes, cooking them over the fire. And she took the cooking-pot, and put the cakes before him, but he would not take them. And Amnon said, Let everyone go away from me. So they all went out. Then Amnon said to Tamar, Take the food and come into my bedroom, so that I may take it from your hand. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and went with them into her brother Amnon's bedroom. And when she took them to give them to him, he put his arms round her and said, Come to bed, my sister.

Then Jehu got all the people together and said to them, Ahab was Baal's servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale. Now send for all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests, to come to me; let no one keep away: for I have a great offering to make to Baal; anyone who is not present, will be put to death. This Jehu did with deceit, his purpose being the destruction of the servants of Baal.

A man may be acting as if he had wealth, but have nothing; another may seem poor, but have great wealth.

There is wrong on wrong, deceit on deceit; they have given up the knowledge of me, says the Lord. So the Lord of armies has said, See, I will make them soft in the fire and put them to the test; this I will do because of their evil-doing. His tongue is an arrow causing death; the words of his mouth are deceit: he says words of peace to his neighbour, but in his heart he is waiting secretly for him.read more.
Am I not to send punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?

Then the Pharisees went and had a meeting to see how they might make use of his words to take him. And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position. Give us, then, your opinion of this: Is it right to give tax to Caesar, or not?read more.
But Jesus saw their trick and said, Oh false ones, why are you attempting to put me in the wrong? Let me see the tax money. And they gave him a penny. And he said to them, Whose is this image and name on it? They say to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. And hearing it, they were full of wonder, and went away from him.

Then they sent to him certain of the Pharisees and the Herodians, so that they might make use of his words to take him by a trick. And when they had come, they said to him, Master, we are certain that you are true, and have no fear of anyone: you have no respect for a man's position, but you are teaching the true way of God: Is it right to give taxes to Caesar or not? Are we to give or not to give? But he, conscious of their false hearts, said to them, Why do you put me to the test? give me a penny, so that I may see it.read more.
And they gave him one. And he said to them, Whose is this image and name on it? And they said to him, Caesar's. And Jesus said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. And they were full of wonder at him.

And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler. And they put a question to him, saying, Master, we are certain that your teaching and your words are right, and that you have no respect for a man's position, but you are teaching the true way of God: Is it right for us to make payment of taxes to Caesar or not?read more.
But he saw through their trick and said to them, Let me see a penny. Whose image and name are on it? And they said, Caesar's. And he said, Then give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's. And they were not able to get anything from these words before the people: but they were full of wonder at his answer, and said nothing.

And the men of Gibeon, hearing what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, Acting with deceit, got food together as if for a long journey; and took old food-bags for their asses, and old and cracked wine-skins kept together with cord; And put old stitched-up shoes on their feet, and old clothing on their backs; and all the food they had with them was dry and broken up.read more.
And they came to Joshua to the tent-circle at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country: so now make an agreement with us. And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, It may be that you are living among us; how then may we make an agreement with you? And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. Then Joshua said to them, Who are you and where do you come from? And they said to him, Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God: for the story of his great name, and of all he did in Egypt has come to our ears, And what he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, at Ashtaroth. So the responsible men and all the people of our country said to us, Take food with you for the journey and go to them, and say to them, We are your servants: so now make an agreement with us. This bread which we have with us for our food, we took warm and new from our houses when starting on our journey to you; but now see, it has become dry and broken up. And these wine-skins were new when we put the wine in them, and now they are cracked as you see; and our clothing and our shoes have become old because of our very long journey here. And the men took some of their food, without requesting directions from the Lord. So Joshua made peace with them, and made an agreement with them that they were not to be put to death: and the chiefs of the people took an oath to them. Now three days after, when they had made this agreement with them, they had word that these men were their neighbours, living near them. And the children of Israel went forward on their journey, and on the third day came to their towns. Now their towns were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim. And the children of Israel did not put them to death, because the chiefs of the people had taken an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And all the people made an outcry against the chiefs. But all the chiefs said to the people, We have taken an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and so we may not put our hands on them. This is what we will do to them: we will not put them to death, for fear that wrath may come on us because of our oath to them. Keep them living, and let them be servants, cutting wood and getting water for all the people. And all the people did as the chiefs had said to them. Then Joshua sent for them, and said to them, Why have you been false to us, saying, We are very far from you, when you are living among us?

Then Saul said to his servants, Get me a woman who has control of a spirit so that I may go to her and get directions. And his servants said to him, There is such a woman at En-dor. So Saul, putting on other clothing, so that he might not be seen to be the king, took two men with him and went to the woman by night; and he said, Now, with the help of the spirit which you have, make the person whose name I will give you come up. And the woman said to him, But you have knowledge of what Saul has done, how he has put away out of the land those who have control of spirits and the users of secret arts: why would you, by a trick, put me in danger of death?read more.
And Saul made an oath to her by the Lord, saying, By the living Lord, no punishment will come to you for this. Then the woman said, Who am I to let you see? And he said, Make Samuel come up for me. And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress and went into the fight. Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel.read more.
So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Truly, this is the king of Israel; and turning against him, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry.

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress, and they went to the fight. Now the king of Aram had given orders to the captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel.read more.
So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel. And turning about, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry, and the Lord came to his help, and God sent them away from him. Now when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him.

Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? did they not make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? And David took these words to heart, fearing Achish, the king of Gath.read more.
So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.

Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning. So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away. Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it.read more.
And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill. And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death. And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death.

I will be blessing the Lord at all times; his praise will be ever in my mouth.

Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day. Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship;

He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.

After all this, and after Josiah had put the house in order, Neco, king of Egypt, went up to make war at Carchemish by the river Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent representatives to him, saying, What have I to do with you, O king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against those with whom I am at war; and God has given me orders to go forward quickly: keep out of God's way, for he is with me, or he will send destruction on you. However, Josiah would not go back; but keeping to his purpose of fighting against him, and giving no attention to the words of Neco, which came from God, he went forward to the fight in the valley of Megiddo.

When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward.

A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you are like the resting-places of the dead, which are made white, and seem beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all unclean things. Even so you seem to men to be full of righteousness, but inside you are all false and full of wrongdoing.

And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked. For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.

And Jesus said to them, Take care that you are not tricked by anyone. People will come in my name, saying, I am he; and a number will be turned from the true way.

And he said, Take care that you are not tricked: for a number of people will come in my name, saying, I am he; and, The time is near: do not go after them.

But for all this, her false sister Judah has not come back to me with all her heart, but with deceit, says the Lord.

You false ones, well did Isaiah say of you, These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

And the Lord said, because this people come near to me with their mouths, and give honour to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is false, a rule given them by the teaching of men;

Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him. So the prophet went away, and pulling his head-band over his eyes to keep his face covered, took his place by the road waiting for the king. And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.read more.
But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself. Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. And he said to him, These are the words of the Lord: Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people. Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, and came to Samaria.

So putting away all wrongdoing, and all tricks and deceits and envies and evil talk,

Take from me every false way; and in mercy give me your law.

At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.

This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps: Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth:

And they put his body into the earth with sinners, and his last resting-place was with the evil-doers, though he had done no wrong, and no deceit was in his mouth.

Putting an end to reasonings, and every high thing which is lifted up against the knowledge of God, and causing every thought to come under the authority of Christ;