59 Bible Verses about Deception

Then with curses and oaths he said: I do not know the man! And immediately a rooster crowed.

Jacob answered: I am your older son Esau. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I brought you. Then you can give me your blessing.

Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.

he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her. So he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.

You destroy those who speak falsehood. Jehovah abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

For many deceivers have gone into the world. They do not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

But You, O God, will bring them down to the corruption of the grave. Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

A truthful witness saves lives. A deceitful witness speaks lies.

This is like a mad man who throws firebrands, arrows, and death. So is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says: I was only joking.

They resorted to a ruse (scheme) (trick). They acted as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, worn out, torn, and mended.

He sent them to Bethlehem. He said: Search diligently for the young child. When you find him, bring me word so I may come and bow down to him also.

You will not die, the serpent said to the woman.

The king was sitting there alone in his cool room on the roof. Ehud went over to him and said: I have a message from God for you. The king stood up.

So Amnon went to bed and pretended that he was sick. King David went to see him. Amnon said: Please have Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her. Then she can serve them to me.

Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be. We know that when he is revealed we will be like him. We will see him just as he is.

Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.

Let no one deceive you with empty words. It is because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, do not get upset right away or alarmed when someone claims that we said through some spirit, conversation, or letter that the Day of Jehovah has already come. (Isaiah 13:6) (Zephaniah 1:14) (2 Peter 3:10) Do not let anyone deceive you about this in any way. That day will not come unless apostasy (a falling away from truth) takes place first, and the man of lawlessness (sin), the man of destruction, is revealed. (2 Timothy 4:3)

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain. But a woman who respects Jehovah will be praised.

The thoughts of the righteous are just. The counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way. The folly of fools is deception.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately corrupt. Who can understand it? I, Jehovah, search the heart and examine the mind (inner man). I give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.

So if any one of you thinks you are important when you really are not, you are only fooling yourself. Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others.

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror. He sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what manner of man he was. read more.
But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continues, being not a hearer who forgets but a doer who works, this man will be blessed in what he does. If any man thinks he is religious, while he does not control his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain (worthless) (useless).

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

You say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing." You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.

he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

The faithful few (remnant) in Israel will not do wrong, tell lies, or use their tongues to deceive others. They will feed their sheep and lie down, and there will be no one making trouble for them.

Do not witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with you lips.

Bread taken by deceit tastes sweet to a man. Afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel.

So if any one of you thinks you are important when you really are not, you are only fooling yourself.

Absalom and all Israel's troops came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was with him. David's friend Hushai from Archi's family came to Absalom. He said: Long live the king! Long live the king! Is this how loyal you are to your friend? Absalom asked Hushai. Why did you not go with him? read more.
Hushai answered: Jehovah and the people of Israel have chosen you to be king. I cannot leave. I must stay and serve the one they have chosen. After all it seems right for me to serve you, just as I served your father.

David kept running from Saul that day until he came to Gath. There he met with King Achish. The officers of King Achish were also there. They asked Achish: Is David a king back in his own country? Do the Israelites not dance and sing: 'Saul has killed a thousand enemies; David has killed ten thousand enemies?' David thought about what they said. It made him afraid of Achish. read more.
Right there in front of everyone, he pretended to be insane. He acted confused and scratched up the doors of the town gate. He drooled in his beard. Look at him! Achish said to his officers. You can see he is crazy. Why did you bring him to me? I have enough crazy people without your bringing another one here. Keep him away from my palace!

He went to King David and said: Your Majesty, I am having my sheep sheared. Will you and your officials take part in the festivities? The king answered: No, my son. It would be too much trouble for you if we all went. Absalom insisted, but the king would not give in. So he asked Absalom to leave. Absalom said: Will you at least let my brother Amnon come? Why should he? The king asked. read more.
Absalom insisted until David finally let Amnon and all his other sons go with Absalom. Absalom prepared a banquet fit for a king. Absalom gave an order to his servants: Watch now and when Amnon begins to feel good from drinking too much wine, I will tell you, Attack Amnon. Then kill him. Do not be afraid. I give this order. Be strong and courageous.

They eat ashes because they are deceived. Their own misguided minds lead them astray. They cannot rescue themselves or ask themselves: Is what I hold in my right hand a false god?

Reuben came back to the pit and found that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes in sorrow. He returned to his brothers and said: The boy is not there! What am I going to do? Then they killed a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in its blood. read more.
They took the robe to their father and said: We found this. Does it belong to your son? He recognized it and said: Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces! Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him. However, he refused to be comforted. He said: I will go down to the grave still mourning for my son. So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.

Jacob's sons wanted to get even with Shechem and his father because of what happened to their sister. So they tricked them by saying: You are not circumcised! It would be a disgrace for us to let you marry Dinah now. But we will let you marry her, if you and the other men in your tribe get circumcised. read more.
Then we will give our daughters to you. And we will take your daughters for us. We will live with you as one people. But if you will not undergo circumcision as we say, then we will take our daughter and go. Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. The young man did not delay to do what was required. This was because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. He was the most honored of all his family. Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of their city. They said: These people are friendly toward us. So let them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there is plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and let them marry ours. These people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one condition: Every male must be circumcised, as they are. Then all their livestock and everything else they own will be ours. So let us agree that they can live among us. All the citizens of the city agreed with what Hamor and Shechem proposed. Then all the males were circumcised. Three days later the men who had been circumcised were still weak from pain. So Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah's brothers, attacked with their swords and killed every man in town. They also killed Hamor and Shechem. Then they took Dinah and left. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain. They plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their flocks and their herds, their asses and whatever was in the city and in the field. They captured their wives and all their little ones. They took all the wealth that was in their houses. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have brought trouble on me by making me loathsome to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Per'izzites. My numbers are few. If they gather themselves against me and attack my household I will be destroyed. They responded: Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?

So Amnon went to bed and pretended that he was sick. King David went to see him. Amnon said: Please have Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her. Then she can serve them to me. David sent word to Tamar at the palace: Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food. She went there and found him in bed. She prepared dough and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes. read more.
Tamar emptied them out of the pan for him to eat. But he refused to eat. He said: Send everyone away. So they all left. He said to her: Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me. She took the cakes and went over to him. She offered them to him. He grabbed her and said: Come to bed with me! She said: No! Do not force me to do this disgraceful thing. It is evil. How could I ever hold up my head in public again? And you, you would be completely disgraced in Israel. Please speak to the king. I am sure he will give me to you. Amnon wouldn't listen to her. He grabbed his sister and raped her.

Rebekah said to her son Jacob: I have just heard your father speak to your brother Esau. He said: 'Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of Jehovah before I die.' Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you. read more.
Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats. I will cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much. You take it to him to eat. Then he will give you his blessing before he dies. Jacob said to his mother: You know that Esau is a hairy man. I have smooth skin. Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him. That way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing. His mother replied: Let any curse against you fall on me, my son. Just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me. So Jacob brought the meat to his mother. And she cooked the tasty food that his father liked. Then she took Esau's best clothes and dressed Jacob in them. She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins. She gave her son Jacob the good-tasting meal and the bread she had prepared. He went to his father and said: Father? Yes, he answered. Who are you, Son? Jacob answered: I am your older son Esau. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I brought you. Then you can give me your blessing. Isaac said: How did you find it so quickly, son? Jacob answered: Jehovah your God helped me find it. Isaac said to Jacob: Please come closer. Let me touch you. Are you really Esau? Jacob went closer. His father touched him. He said: You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau's. So Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau.

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, They resorted to a ruse (scheme) (trick). They acted as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, worn out, torn, and mended. They had worn out and patched shoes on their feet, they wore old garments; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. read more.
They went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel: We come from a distant country, make a treaty with us. The men of Israel said to the Hivites: Perhaps you live near us. How can we make a treaty with you? They said: We are your servants. Joshua said to them: Who are you? Where do you come from? They said: From a very far country, your servants came because of the name of Jehovah your God, for we have heard about him and all 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, which was at Ashtaroth. 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 make a treaty with us.' We took hot fresh bread for our provision out of our houses on the day we came to you. Now it is dry, and it is moldy: These bottles of wine, which we filled, were new and now they are cracked. Our garments and shoes have become old by reason of the very long journey. The men sampled their provisions but did not ask for counsel from Jehovah. Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live. The leaders of the congregation ratified it by an oath.

Then the Israelites cried out to Jehovah. So he sent someone to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him. Ehud made himself a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long. He fastened it on his right side under his clothes. He took the gifts to Eglon, who was a very fat man. read more.
When Ehud gave him the gifts, he told the men who carried them to go back home. But Ehud turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal, went back to Eglon, and said: Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you. So the king ordered his servants: Leave us alone! Then they all went out. The king was sitting there alone in his cool room on the roof. Ehud went over to him and said: I have a message from God for you. The king stood up. With his left hand Ehud took the sword from his right side and plunged it into the king's belly. The whole sword went in, handle and all, and the fat covered it up. Ehud did not pull it out of the king's belly, and it stuck out behind, between his legs. Ehud went outside, closed the doors behind him, locked them. Then he left. The servants came and saw that the doors to the upstairs room were locked. They only thought that the king was inside, relieving himself. They waited as long as they thought they should. When he still did not open the door, they took the key and opened it. There lying dead on the floor was their master. Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet to call the people of Israel to battle. Then he led them down from the hills. He said to them: Follow me! Jehovah has given you victory over your enemies, the Moabites. So they followed Ehud and captured the place where the Moabites were to cross the Jordan. They did not allow anyone to cross. They killed about ten thousand of the best Moabite soldiers. None of them escaped. That day the Israelites defeated Moab. There was peace in the land for eighty years.

After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley. The five Philistine kings said to her: Entice Samson into telling you why he is so strong and how we can overpower him. Tie him up, and make him helpless. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. Delilah said to Samson: Tell me what makes you so strong. How could you be subdued and tied up? read more.
Samson answered: If they tie me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I'll be as weak as anybody else. The Philistine kings brought Delilah seven new bowstrings that were not dried out, and she tied Samson up. She had some men waiting in another room, so she shouted: Samson! The Philistines are coming! But he snapped the bowstrings just as thread breaks when fire touches it. They still did not know the secret of his strength. Delilah told Samson: You made a fool of me. What is the truth? Please tell me how someone could tie you up. He said: If I am tied with new unused ropes I will be weak. Delilah tied him with new ropes. Then she shouted: Samson! The Philistines are coming! The men were waiting in another room. However he snapped the ropes off his arms like thread. Delilah said to Samson: You still make a fool of me. What is the truth? Tell me how someone could tie you up. He told her: If you weave my seven locks of hair into a loom, and make it tight with a peg, I will be weak. Delilah lulled him to sleep. She took his seven locks of hair and wove them into the loom. She made it tight with a peg and shouted: Samson! The Philistines are coming! He woke up and pulled his hair loose from the loom. How can you say you love me, she asked: when you do not mean it? You have made a fool of me three times. You still have not told me what makes you strong. She kept asking him, day after day. He got sick and tired of her nagging him. So finally he told her the truth: My hair has never been cut, he said: I have been dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the time I was born. I would lose my strength if my hair were cut. When Delilah realized that he told her the truth, she sent a message to the Philistine kings: Come back one more time. He told me the truth. They came and brought the money with them. Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she tormented him, for he had lost his strength. She shouted: Samson! The Philistines are coming! He woke up and thought: I will get loose and go free, as always. He did not know that Jehovah had left him.

If any man thinks he is religious, while he does not control his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain (worthless) (useless).

He flatters himself and does not hate or even recognize his sin.

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, who deceive themselves.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Then he said: I am a prophet like you. An angel said to me by the word of Jehovah, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he lied to him.

But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow

After four years Absalom said to King David: My lord let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to Jehovah.

They sent their disciples with the Herodians to Jesus. They said: Teacher we know you are truthful. You teach the way of God in truth. And you are not partial to the influence of men.

when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself: My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living God Jehovah I will run after him and get something from him.

A lawyer stood up to test him. He asked: Teacher what shall I do to inherit everlasting life?

His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her. So he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.

It was just two days until the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread. The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might quietly capture and kill him.

Your tongue makes up wickedness. It is like a sharp razor, you master of deceit.

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.

You will not die, the serpent said to the woman.

He sent them to Bethlehem. He said: Search diligently for the young child. When you find him, bring me word so I may come and bow down to him also.