12 Bible Verses about Craftiness

Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?

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;

So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error;

And they made designs together to take Jesus by some trick, and put him to death.

But he saw through their trick and said to them,

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.

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?

Master, Moses said, If a man, at the time of his death, has no children, let his brother take his wife, and get a family for his brother; Now there were among us seven brothers; and the first was married and at his death, having no seed, gave his wife to his brother; In the same way the second and the third, up to the seventh. read more.
And last of all the woman came to her end. When they come back from the dead, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? because they all had her.

And while they were seated taking food, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, One of you will be false to me, one who is taking food with me. They were sad, and said to him one by one, Is it I? And he said to them, It is one of the twelve, one who is putting his bread with me into the same plate. read more.
The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but cursed is that man through whom the Son of man is given up! It would have been well for that man if he had never been given birth. And while they were taking food, he took bread, and after blessing it, he gave the broken bread to them, and said, Take it: this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given praise, he gave it to them: and they all had a drink from it.

And the chief priests and the scribes made attempts to get their hands on him in that very hour; and they were in fear of the people, for they saw that he had made up this story against them. 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: read more.
Is it right for us to make payment of taxes to Caesar or not? 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.

But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him: Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number: Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields: read more.
Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place; Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes. He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

Let no man have a false idea. If any man seems to himself to be wise among you, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God. As it is said in the holy Writings, He who takes the wise in their secret designs:

For this reason, because we have been made servants of this new order, through the mercy given to us, we are strong: And we have given up the secret things of shame, not walking in false ways, and not making use of the word of God with deceit; but by the revelation of what is true, as before God, we have the approval of every man's sense of right and wrong.

And they made designs together to take Jesus by some trick, and put him to death.

It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes made designs how they might take him by deceit and put him to death:

And Laban said, What am I to give you? And Jacob said, Do not give me anything; but I will again take up the care of your flock if you will only do this for me: Let me go through all your flock today, taking out from among them all the sheep which are marked or coloured or black, and all the marked or coloured goats: these will be my payment. And so you will be able to put my honour to the test in time to come; if you see among my flocks any goats which are not marked or coloured, or any sheep which is not black, you may take me for a thief. read more.
And Laban said, Let it be as you say. So that day he took all the he-goats which were banded or coloured, and all the she-goats which were marked or coloured or had white marks, and all the black sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons; And sent them three days' journey away: and Jacob took care of the rest of Laban's flock. Then Jacob took young branches of trees, cutting off the skin so that the white wood was seen in bands. And he put the banded sticks in the drinking-places where the flock came to get water; and they became with young when they came to the water. And because of this, the flock gave birth to young which were marked with bands of colour. These lambs Jacob kept separate; and he put his flock in a place by themselves and not with Laban's flock. And whenever the stronger ones of the flock became with young, Jacob put the sticks in front of them in the drinking-places, so that they might become with young when they saw the sticks. But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put the sticks before them; so that the feebler flocks were Laban's and the stronger were Jacob's. So Jacob's wealth was greatly increased; he had great flocks and women-servants and men-servants and camels and asses.

And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright. And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.

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.

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. Now, my son, do what I say. read more.
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. And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way. And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not. And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing. And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he put it before him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink. And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and give me a kiss. And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the blessing of the Lord has come: May God give you the dew of heaven, and the good things of the earth, and grain and wine in full measure: Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you: be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a blessing on those who give you a blessing.

Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden? And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden: But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you. read more.
And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil.