63 Bible Verses about Shrewdness
Most Relevant Verses
'Lo, I do send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as the serpents, and simple as the doves.
'And the lord commended the unrighteous steward that he did prudently, because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of the light, in respect to their generation. and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles.
And he said also unto his disciples, 'A certain man was rich, who had a steward, and he was accused to him as scattering his goods; and having called him, he said to him, What is this I hear about thee? render the account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest not any longer be steward. And the steward said in himself, What shall I do, because my lord doth take away the stewardship from me? to dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed: -- read more.
I have known what I shall do, that, when I may be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me to their houses. 'And having called near each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, How much dost thou owe to my lord? and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty. 'Afterward to another he said, And thou, how much dost thou owe? and he said, A hundred cors of wheat; and he saith to him, Take thy bill, and write eighty.
'Therefore, every one who doth hear of me these words, and doth do them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain did descend, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it had been founded on the rock.
Every one who is coming unto me, and is hearing my words, and is doing them, I will shew you to whom he is like; he is like to a man building a house, who did dig, and deepen, and laid a foundation upon the rock, and a flood having come, the stream broke forth on that house, and was not able to shake it, for it had been founded upon the rock.
The simple giveth credence to everything, And the prudent attendeth to his step.
A fool despiseth the instruction of his father, And whoso is regarding reproof is prudent.
The heart of the intelligent getteth knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
'Who, then, is the servant, faithful and wise, whom his lord did set over his household, to give them the nourishment in season? Happy that servant, whom his lord, having come, shall find doing so; verily I say to you, that over all his substance he will set him.
And the Lord said, 'Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the lord shall set over his household, to give in season the wheat measure? Happy that servant, whom his lord, having come, shall find doing so; truly I say to you, that over all his goods he will set him.
And Jesus having known their wickedness, said, 'Why me do ye tempt, hypocrites? show me the tribute-coin?' and they brought to him a denary; and he saith to them, 'Whose is this image and the inscription?'read more.
they say to him, 'Caesar's;' then saith he to them, 'Render therefore the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;' and having heard they wondered, and having left him they went away.
And he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, 'Why me do ye tempt? bring me a denary, that I may see;' and they brought, and he saith to them, 'Whose is this image, and the inscription?' and they said to him, 'Caesar's;' and Jesus answering said to them, 'Give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;' and they did wonder at him.
And he, having perceived their craftiness, said unto them, 'Why me do ye tempt? shew me a denary; of whom hath it an image and superscription?' and they answering said, 'Of Caesar:' and he said to them, 'Give back, therefore, the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;'read more.
and they were not able to take hold on his saying before the people, and having wondered at his answer, they were silent.
'And concerning the rising again of the dead, did ye not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not a God of dead men, but of living.'
And concerning the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the Book of Moses (at The Bush), how God spake to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; he is not the God of dead men, but a God of living men; ye then go greatly astray.'
'And that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the Bush, since he doth call the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and He is not a God of dead men, but of living, for all live to Him.'
and when they continued asking him, having bent himself back, he said unto them, 'The sinless of you -- let him first cast the stone at her;'
go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his foot is; who hath seen him there? for one hath said unto me, He is very subtile. And see and know of all the hiding-places where he hideth himself, and ye have turned back unto me prepared, and I have gone with you, and it hath been, if he is in the land, that I have searched him out through all the thousands of Judah.'
And Joab son of Zeruial knoweth that the heart of the king is on Absalom, and Joab sendeth to Tekoah, and taketh thence a wise woman, and saith unto her, 'Feign thyself a mourner, I pray thee, and put on, I pray thee, garments of mourning, and anoint not thyself with oil, and thou hast been as a woman these many days mourning for the dead, and thou hast gone unto the king, and spoken unto him, according to this word;' and Joab putteth the words into her mouth.
And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God is in his heart, to do judgment.
And he hath understanding, and spreadeth out of all his sons to all lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all cities of the bulwarks, and giveth to them provision in abundance; and he asketh a multitude of wives.
And Daniel saith unto the Meltzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs hath appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 'Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink; and our appearance is seen before thee, and the appearance of the lads who are eating the king's portion of food, and as thou seest -- deal with thy servants.'
Then Herod, having seen that he was deceived by the mages, was very wroth, and having sent forth, he slew all the male children in Beth-Lehem, and in all its borders, from two years and under, according to the time that he inquired exactly from the mages.
And Jesus said to her, 'Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the little dogs.' And she answered and saith to him, 'Yes, sir; for the little dogs also under the table do eat of the children's crumbs.' And he said to her, 'Because of this word go; the demon hath gone forth out of thy daughter;'
and he answering said, 'It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast to the little dogs.' And she said, 'Yes, sir, for even the little dogs do eat of the crumbs that are falling from their lords' table;' then answering, Jesus said to her, 'O woman, great is thy faith, let it be to thee as thou wilt;' and her daughter was healed from that hour.
They search out perverse things, 'We perfected a searching search,' And the inward part of man, and the heart are deep.
For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. Deliver me, O Jehovah, from an evil man, From one of violence Thou keepest me. Who have devised evils in the heart, All the day they assemble for wars. They sharpened their tongue as a serpent, Poison of an adder is under their lips. Selah.
And, lo, a woman to meet him -- (A harlot's dress, and watchful of heart,
said, 'O full of all guile, and all profligacy, son of a devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord?
that we may no more be babes, tossed and borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray,
With the kind Thou shewest Thyself kind, With the perfect man Thou shewest Thyself perfect, With the pure Thou shewest Thyself pure, And with the perverse Thou shewest Thyself a wrestler.
With the kind Thou showest Thyself kind, With a perfect man showest Thyself perfect. With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, And with the perverse showest Thyself a wrestler,
Making void thoughts of the subtile, And their hands do not execute wisdom. Capturing the wise in their subtilty, And the counsel of wrestling ones was hastened,
A man of worthlessness, a man of iniquity, Walking with perverseness of mouth, Winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, Directing with his fingers, Frowardness is in his heart, devising evil at all times, Contentions he sendeth forth.read more.
Therefore suddenly cometh his calamity, Instantly he is broken -- and no healing.
The good bringeth forth favour from Jehovah, And the man of wicked devices He condemneth.
Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, And thy framer from the womb: 'I am Jehovah, doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, Spreading out the earth -- who is with Me? Making void the tokens of devisers, And diviners it maketh mad, Turning the wise backward, And their knowledge it maketh foolish.
for it hath been written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nought;'
Therefore, lo, I am adding to do wonderfully with this people, A wonder, and a marvel, And perished hath the wisdom of its wise ones, And the understanding of its intelligent ones hideth itself.'
for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it hath been written, 'Who is taking the wise in their craftiness;' and again, 'The Lord doth know the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.'
Whoso is short of temper doth folly, And a man of wicked devices is hated.
and I fear, lest, as the serpent did beguile Eve in his subtilty, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in the Christ;
And the serpent hath been subtile above every beast of the field which Jehovah God hath made, and he saith unto the woman, 'Is it true that God hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree of the garden?'
that we may not be over-reached by the Adversary, for of his devices we are not ignorant.
for those such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ, and no wonder -- for even the Adversary doth transform himself into a messenger of light; no great thing, then, if also his ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness -- whose end shall be according to their works.
Then the Pharisees having gone, took counsel how they might ensnare him in words, and they send to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we have known that thou art true, and the way of God in truth thou dost teach, and thou art not caring for any one, for thou dost not look to the face of men; tell us, therefore, what dost thou think? is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?'
and they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they may ensnare him in discourse, and they having come, say to him, 'Teacher, we have known that thou art true, and thou art not caring for any one, for thou dost not look to the face of men, but in truth the way of God dost teach; is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? may we give, or may we not give?' And he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, 'Why me do ye tempt? bring me a denary, that I may see;'
And, having watched him, they sent forth liers in wait, feigning themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his word, to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor, and they questioned him, saying, 'Teacher, we have known that thou dost say and teach rightly, and dost not accept a person, but in truth the way of God dost teach; Is it lawful to us to give tribute to Caesar or not?'
Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the court of the chief priest who was called Caiaphas; and they consulted together that they might take Jesus by guile, and kill him,
And the passover and the unleavened food were after two days, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, by guile, having taken hold of him, they might kill him; and they said, 'Not in the feast, lest there shall be a tumult of the people.'
And the feast of the unleavened food was coming nigh, that is called Passover, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they may take him up, for they were afraid of the people.
and Jacob saith, 'Sell to-day thy birthright to me.' And Esau saith, 'Lo, I am going to die, and what is this to me -- birthright?' and Jacob saith, 'Swear to me to-day:' and he sweareth to him, and selleth his birthright to Jacob;
and Rebekah taketh the desirable garments of Esau her elder son, which are with her in the house, and doth put on Jacob her younger son; and the skins of the kids of the goats she hath put on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck,
give help! let us act wisely concerning it, lest it multiply, and it hath come to pass, when war happeneth, that it hath been joined, even it, unto those hating us, and hath fought against us, and hath gone out up of the land.'
And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai, and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry -- it was crumbs.read more.
And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, 'From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;'
And Amnon hath a friend, and his name is Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David's brother, and Jonadab is a very wise man,
that Sanballat sendeth, also Geshem, unto me, saying, 'Come and we meet together in the villages, in the valley of Ono;' and they are thinking to do to me evil. And I send unto them messengers, saying, 'A great work I am doing, and I am not able to come down; why doth the work cease when I let it alone, and have come down unto you?' and they send unto me, according to this word, four times, and I return them word according to this word.read more.
And Sanballat sendeth unto me, according to this word, a fifth time, his servant, and an open letter in his hand; it is written in it, 'Among the nations it hath been heard, and Gashmu is saying: Thou and the Jews are thinking to rebel, therefore thou art building the wall, and thou hast been to them for a king -- according to these words! And also, prophets thou hast appointed to call for thee in Jerusalem, saying, A king is in Judah, and now it is heard by the king according to these words; and now come, and we take counsel together.' And I send unto him, saying, 'It hath not been according to these words that thou art saying, for from thine own heart thou art devising them;' for all of them are making us afraid, saying, 'Their hands are too feeble for the work, and it is not done;' and now, strengthen Thou my hands. And I have entered the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabeel -- and he is restrained -- and he saith, 'Let us meet at the house of God, at the inside of the temple, and we shut the doors of the temple, for they are coming in to slay thee -- yea, by night they are coming in to slay thee.' And I say, 'A man such as I -- doth he flee? and who as I, that doth go in unto the temple, and live? -- I do not go in.' And I discern, and lo, God hath not sent him, for in the prophecy he hath spoken unto me both Tobiah and Sanballat hired him, so that he is an hireling, that I may fear and do so, and I had sinned, and it had been to them for an evil name that they may reproach me.
And be it so, I -- I did not burden you, but being crafty, with guile I did take you;
