Now Abram [was] very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

They captured and plundered all that [was] in the houses--all their wealth, their little ones, and their women.

And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of [the] Egyptians and to bring them up from this land to a good and wide land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

For Yahweh your God [is] bringing you to a good land [with] streams of water, springs and underground water, welling up in the valleys and in the hills, [to] a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranate trees, a land of olive trees, olive oil and honey;

And you may think in your heart, 'My strength and the might of my hand {acquired this wealth for} me.' But you must remember Yahweh your God, for he [is] the [one] giving you strength to acquire wealth in order to confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors {as it is today}.

You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, [despite] all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old [man] in your household {forever}!

Now there was a man in Maon, whose business [was] in Carmel. The man was very rich and {owned} three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. {Now} the shearing of his sheep [was taking place] in Carmel.

Now Barzillai [was] very old, {eighty years old}. Now he had provided the king [with food] while he [was] staying at Mahanaim, for he [was] a very wealthy man.

For Mordecai the Jew [was] second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. [He was] great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, {interceding for the welfare of all his descendants}.

And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf also does not wither. Therefore all that he does prospers. Not so the wicked. Instead, [they are] like the chaff that [the] wind scatters.

And its land is filled [with] silver and gold, and there is no end to its treasures; and its land is filled [with] horses, and [there is] no end to its chariots. Its land is filled [with] idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what they made [with] their fingers.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

Ah! Those who rise early in the morning, they pursue strong drink. Those who linger in the evening, wine inflames them.

Therefore my people will go into exile without knowledge, [and] their nobles [will be] men of hunger, and their multitude [is] parched [with] thirst.

They covet fields and seize [them], and houses, and they take [them] away. They oppress a man and his house; a man and his inheritance.

If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies, [saying] "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," then he would be a preacher [for] this people!

for the pagans seek after all these [things]. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these [things]. But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these [things] will be added to you.

because narrow [is] the gate and constricted [is] the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!

Do not [take] a traveler's bag for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker [is] deserving of his provisions.

the blind receive sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have good news announced to [them].

For [it is] like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them.

Now [when it] was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who also was a disciple of Jesus himself.

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they were offended by him.

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one [thing]: Go, sell all that you have, and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me."

{who will not} receive a hundred times as much now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life.

And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples [and] said, "Blessed [are] the poor, because yours is the kingdom of God.

and Joanna the wife of Chuza (Herod's household manager), and Susanna, and many others who were helping to support them from their possessions.

Do not carry a money bag or a traveler's bag or sandals, and greet no one along the road.

But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your life is demanded from you, and [the things] which you have prepared--whose will they be?' So [is] the one who stores up treasure for himself, and who is not rich toward God!"

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it runs out they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

"Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.

And {there was} a man {named} Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he [was] rich.

And Zacchaeus stopped [and] said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying [it] back four times [as much]!" And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.

Therefore he said, "A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

And he said to them, "But now the one who has a money bag must take [it], and likewise a traveler's bag. And the one who does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy [one].

(For his disciples had gone away into the town so that they could buy food.)

(Now no one of those reclining at table knew for what [reason] he said this to him.

And all who believed were in the same [place], and had everything in common. And they began selling [their] possessions and property, and distributing these [things] to all, to the degree that anyone had need.

For there was not even anyone needy among them, because all those who were owners of plots of land or houses were selling [them] [and] bringing the proceeds of the things that were sold and placing [them] at the feet of the apostles. And it was being distributed to each as anyone had need. read more. So Joseph, who was called Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated "son of encouragement"), a Levite of Cyprus by nationality, sold a field that belonged to him [and] brought the money and placed [it] at the feet of the apostles.

[When it] remained to you, did it not remain [yours]? And [when it] was sold, was it at your disposal? How [is it] that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people, but to God!"

{These} he gathered together, and the workers occupied with such things, [and] said, "Men, you know that from this business {we get our prosperity},

For the training of the body is {somewhat} profitable, but godliness is profitable for everything, [because it] holds promise for the present life and for the [life] to come.

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, [because they] desire [it], have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

Command those [who are] rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all [things] richly for enjoyment, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely, read more. storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of [what is] truly life.

My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters, read more. and you look favorably on the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, "Be seated here in a good place," and to the poor person you say, "You stand or be seated there by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich exploiting you and they themselves dragging you into the courts? Do they themselves not blaspheme the good name {of the one to whom you belong}? However, if you carry out the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.

Come now, you rich people, weep [and] cry aloud over the miseries that are coming upon you! Your wealth has rotted, and your clothing has become moth-eaten. read more. Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived self-indulgently on the earth and have lived luxuriously. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

Because you are saying, "I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked,