40 Bible Verses about Pretence

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick. Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go disguise yourself, so they won’t know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people. Take with you 10 loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” read more.
Jeroboam’s wife did that: she went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Ahijah could not see; his gaze was fixed due to his age. But the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming soon to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will be disguised.” When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? I have bad news for you.

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, ‘Bring me the game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ read more.
Now obey every order I give you, my son. Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.” Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.” His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.” So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob. When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”

And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had ordinary eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” read more.
Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to sleep with her.” So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast. That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”

Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. read more.
He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me?”

Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king’s mind was on Absalom. So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a clever woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.

Some time passed. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar, and David’s son Amnon was infatuated with her. Amnon was frustrated to the point of making himself sick over his sister Tamar because she was a virgin, but it seemed impossible to do anything to her. Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, a son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man, read more.
and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the king’s son, so miserable every morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon replied, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.” Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you’re sick. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare food in my presence so I can watch and eat from her hand.’” So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my presence so I can eat from her hand.” David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Please go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare a meal for him.” Then Tamar went to his house while Amnon was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his presence, and baked them. She brought the pan and set it down in front of him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Everyone leave me!” And everyone left him. “Bring the meal to the bedroom,” Amnon told Tamar, “so I can eat from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnon’s bedroom. When she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come sleep with me, my sister!”

Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. None must be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” However, Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

One man pretends to be rich but has nothing;
another pretends to be poor but has great wealth.

You live in a world of deception.
In their deception they refuse to know Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration. Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

I am about to refine them and test them,
for what else can I do
because of My dear people?
Their tongues are deadly arrows—
they speak deception.
With his mouth
a man speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
read more.
Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap Him by what He said. They sent their disciples to Him, with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You defer to no one, for You don’t show partiality. Tell us, therefore, what You think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” read more.
But perceiving their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing Me, hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought Him a denarius. “Whose image and inscription is this?” He asked them. “Caesar’s,” they said to Him.

Then He said to them, “Therefore give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Him to trap Him by what He said. When they came, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know You are truthful and defer to no one, for You don’t show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay?”

But knowing their hypocrisy, He said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” read more.
So they brought one. “Whose image and inscription is this?” He asked them.

“Caesar’s,” they said. Then Jesus told them, “Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.

They watched closely and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, so they could catch Him in what He said, to hand Him over to the governor’s rule and authority. They questioned Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You don’t show partiality, but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” read more.
But detecting their craftiness, He said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?”

“Caesar’s,” they said. “Well then,” He told them, “give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” They were not able to catch Him in what He said in public, and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly. read more.
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.” The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?” They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” They replied to him, “Your servants have come from a far away land because of the reputation of the Lord your God. For we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.”’ This bread of ours was warm when we took it from our houses as food on the day we left to come to you. But take a look, it is now dry and crumbly. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the extremely long journey.” Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the Lord’s counsel. So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them. Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them. So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders. All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.” They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them. Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us?

Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.” Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you.” But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?” read more.
Then Saul swore to her by the Lord: “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you because of this.” “Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked.

“Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered. When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

Then the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead. But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. Now the king of Aram had ordered his 32 chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel.” read more.
When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.

Then the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead. But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” read more.
When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath. But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances:

Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands?” David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath, read more.
so he pretended to be insane in their presence. He acted like a madman around them, scribbling on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!” So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. read more.
When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.” Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.” When the messengers arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head. Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”

She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed.I will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.

Then, fearing we might run aground in some rocky place, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.

Better to be dishonored, yet have a servant,
than to act important but have no food.

After all this that Josiah had prepared for the temple, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but I am fighting another dynasty. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don’t make Him destroy you!” But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo to fight.

So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.

Then Jesus began by telling them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and they will deceive many.

Then He said, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Don’t follow them.

Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said: These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

The Lord said:

Because these people approach Me with their mouths
to honor Me with lip-service—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—

The prophet found another man and said to him, “Strike me!” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound. Then the prophet went and waited for the king on the road. He disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king and said, “Your servant marched out into the middle of the battle. Suddenly, a man turned aside and brought someone to me and said, ‘Guard this man! If he is ever missing, it will be your life in place of his life, or you will weigh out 75 pounds of silver.’ read more.
But while your servant was busy here and there, he disappeared.”

The king of Israel said to him, “That will be your sentence; you yourself have decided it.” He quickly removed the bandage from his eyes. The king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. The prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you released from your hand the man I had set apart for destruction, it will be your life in place of his life and your people in place of his people.’” The king of Israel left for home resentful and angry, and he entered Samaria.

So rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

Keep me from the way of deceit
and graciously give me Your instruction.

In these circumstances, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to His disciples first: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

For you were called to this,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example,
so that you should follow in His steps.
He did not commit sin,
and no deceit was found in His mouth;

They made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man at His death,
although He had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.

and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.