12 Bible Verses about Craftiness

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made: and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

They did work craftily, and went and made as if they had been embassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive:

And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, Why tempt ye me?

And they sent to him certain of the Pharisees, and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar, or not?

Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man shall die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased; and having no issue, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, to the seventh. read more.
And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

And as they sat, and were eating, Jesus said, Verily I say to you, One of you who eateth with me, will betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? And he answered and said to them, It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish. read more.
The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written concerning him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him to the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: read more.
Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Cesar, or not? But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, Why tempt ye me? Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cesar's. And he said to them, Render therefore to Cesar the things which are Cesar's, and to God the things which are God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marveled at his answer, and held their peace.

I would seek to God, and to God would I commit my cause: Who doeth great things and unsearchable; wonderful things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: read more.
To set on high those that are low: that those who mourn may be exalted to safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty; not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests, and the scribes, sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me. read more.
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted; every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. And Jacob took to him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut-tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods, which he had peeled, before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks towards the ring-streaked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban: and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not with Laban's cattle. And it came to pass, whenever the stronger cattle conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. And the man increased exceedingly, and had many cattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses.

And Jacob said, Sell to me this day thy birth-right. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birth-right bring to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore to him: and he sold his birth-right to Jacob.

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, They did work craftily, and went and made as if they had been embassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; And old shoes and patched upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. read more.
And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, It may be ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? And they said to Joshua, we are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and whence come ye? And they said to him, From a very far country thy servants have come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us: This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy: And these bottles of wine which we filled, were new, and behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men took of their provisions, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation swore to them.

And Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD, before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee. read more.
Go now to the flock, and bring me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said to him, upon me be thy curse, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me. And he went, and took, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which was with her in the house, and put it upon Jacob her younger son: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth part of his neck: And she gave the savory meat, and the bread which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came to his father, and said, My father: And he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou art my very son Esau, or not. And Jacob went near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he ate: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made: and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. read more.
And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know, that in the day ye eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened: and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.