22 Bible Verses about Dishonesty

The LORD hates false scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

"Now as for the merchant, deceitful balances remain in his hand, and he loves to defraud.

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

"This is bad, bad," says whoever is buying but then he brags as he walks away after the sale.

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

A fortune gained by deceit is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

"How terrible for him who builds his house without righteousness, and its upper rooms without justice, who makes his neighbor work for nothing, and does not pay him his wage.

A little gain with righteousness is better than great income without justice.

Whoever oppresses the poor to enrich himself and whoever gives gifts to the wealthy will yield only loss.

to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans!

They take bribes among you to shed blood. You've taken usury and exacted interest. You've gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you've forgotten me," declares the Lord GOD.

"Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won't live and planting fine vineyards from which you won't drink

"But when that servant went away, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, seized him by the throat, and said, "Pay what you owe!'

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

"Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns."

But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized.

But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it.

I've lived in your house these 20 years serving fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flocks. During all that time you changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole among their own belongings.

"You are not to oppress your neighbor or rob him. "The wages of a hired laborer are not to remain in your possession until morning.

You know the commandments: "Never murder.' "Never commit adultery.' "Never steal.' "Never give false testimony.' "Never cheat.' "Honor your father and mother.'"

Instead, you yourselves practice doing wrong and cheating others, and brothers at that!

The LORD hates false scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

"Now as for the merchant, deceitful balances remain in his hand, and he loves to defraud.

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

"This is bad, bad," says whoever is buying but then he brags as he walks away after the sale.

"Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns."

But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized.

But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it.

I've lived in your house these 20 years serving fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flocks. During all that time you changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole among their own belongings.

Eventually, Jacob told Laban, "Bring me my wife, now that my time of service has been completed, so I can go be with her." So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival. That night Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. He had marital relations with her. read more.
Laban also gave his servant woman Zilpah to Leah to be her maidservant. The next morning, Jacob realized that it was Leah! "What have you done to me?" he demanded of Laban. "Didn't I serve you for seven years in order to marry Rachel? Why did you deceive me?" But Laban responded, "It's not the practice of our place to give the younger one in marriage before the firstborn. Fulfill the week for this daughter, then we'll give you the other one in exchange for serving me another seven years." So Jacob completed another seven years' work, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban also gave his woman servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maidservant. Jacob also married Rachel, since he loved her. He served Laban another full seven years' work for Rachel.

Then Jacob got angry and started an argument with Laban. "What have I done?" he demanded. "What's my crime that would cause you to come pursue me so violently? Now that you've searched all my belongings, what did you find that belongs to your house? Set it here in front of our relatives and we'll let them judge between us! Meanwhile, these past 20 years that I've been with you, your sheep and goats never had miscarriages, I never once ate any of the rams from your flock, read more.
and whatever was torn by beasts, I never bothered to bring to you. Instead, I bore the losses myself. Even so, you demanded that I provide restitution for anything that was stolen, whether during the day or the night. As it was, I was attacked by drought during the day and by cold at night. I never got any decent rest. I've lived in your house these 20 years serving fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flocks. During all that time you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father the God of Abraham, the God whom Isaac feared had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty handed. But God saw my misery and how hard I've worked with my own hands and he rebuked you last night."

Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown to us, we do not get discouraged. Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God's word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God.

But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized.

They filled in with sand all of the wells that Isaac's father Abraham's servants had dug during his lifetime. Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, "Move away from us! You've become more powerful than we are." So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the Gerar Valley, where he settled. read more.
Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them. While Isaac's servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water. But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it. When his workers started digging another well, those herdsmen quarreled about that one, too, so Isaac named it Sitnah. Then he left that area and dug still another well. Because they did not quarrel over that one, Isaac named it Rehoboth, because he used to say, "The LORD has enlarged the territory for us. We will prosper in the land."

One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau happened to come in from being outdoors, and he was feeling famished. Esau told Jacob, "Let me gobble down some of this red stuff, since I'm starving." (That's how Esau got his nickname "Edom".) But Jacob responded, "Sell me your birthright. Do it now." read more.
"Look! I'm about to die," Esau replied. "What good is this birthright to me?" But Jacob insisted, "Swear it by an oath right now." So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked. Jacob responded, "You don't have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it. Let me walk among your flocks today and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, along with every black lamb, and let me do the same with the speckled and spotted goats. These will be my wages. In the future, you'll be able to verify my honesty because, when you come to check what I've earned, if you find a goat that's not speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, then it will have been stolen by me." read more.
"Okay," Laban replied. "We'll do it the way you've asked." That very day, Laban removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted that is, every one that had white on them and all the black lambs and placed them into the care of his sons. He sent them as far away from Jacob as a three days' journey could take them. Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches. Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink. When the flocks mated in front of the branches, they would bear offspring that were striped, speckled, or spotted. Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock. Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches. But he didn't put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob. Therefore the man Jacob prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.

Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole among their own belongings. The Israelis have been unable to stand before their enemies. They're turning their backs and running from their enemies because they themselves have been turned over to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy these things that have been turned over to destruction. So get up and sanctify the people. Tell them, "Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, because this is what the LORD God of Israel, says: "There are things turned over to destruction among you, Israel. You won't be able to defeat your enemies until you remove what has been turned over to destruction. read more.
Tomorrow morning you are to come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects is to come forward by tribes, the tribe that the LORD selects is to come forward by households, and the household that the LORD selects is to come forward one by one. The one selected as having taken what has been turned over to destruction is to be incinerated, along with everything that pertains to him, because he has transgressed against the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrageous thing in Israel."'" So Joshua got up early that morning, brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. He brought near the tribes of Judah, and the Zerahite tribe was selected. Then he brought near the Zerahite tribe family by family, and the household of Zabdi was selected. Next, he brought near his household one by one, and Carmi's son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah, was selected from the tribe of Judah. Joshua then spoke to Achan, "My son, give glory and praise to the LORD God of Israel. Tell me right now what you did. Don't hide anything." Achan answered Joshua, "It's true. I'm the one who sinned against the LORD God of Israel. I noticed among the war spoils a beautiful mantle from Shinar, 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. Because I wanted them, I took them, and they're buried in the ground inside my tent. The silver is underneath." So Joshua sent some messengers, who ran to the tent. And there it was, hidden in the tent with the silver underneath. They took the things from the tent that had been turned over to destruction, brought them to Joshua and all of the Israelis, and laid them out in the presence of the LORD. Then Joshua, with all Israel accompanying him, took Zerah's son Achan, along with the silver, the mantle, the gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that belonged to him to the Valley of Achor. Joshua announced, "Why did you bring trouble to us? Today the LORD is bringing trouble to you!" So all Israel stoned him to death, incinerated them, and buried them with stones, piling up a large mound of boulders that remains to this day. After this, the LORD turned his burning anger away, and that is why that place is called "the Valley of Achor" to this day.

so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days. Then go to the king and speak to him like this"" Then Joab told her what to say. When the woman from Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, prostrating herself to address him, "Help, your majesty!" read more.
The king asked her, "What's your problem?" "I've been a widowed woman ever since my husband died," she answered. "Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him. Now please pay attention closely! My whole family is attacking your humble servant! They're saying, "Turn over the one who attacked his brother and we'll put him to death in retribution for his brother, whose life he took. That way, we'll kill the heir also!' They're going to extinguish the only light left in my family, leaving my late husband neither an ongoing name nor a survivor on the face of the earth!" Then the king replied to the woman, "Go home and I'll issue a special order just for you." But the woman from Tekoa told the king, "Your majesty, let any guilt for this be on me and on my ancestors' household, and not on my king or his throne!" The king replied, "Bring anyone who talks to you about this to me, and he certainly won't be bothering you anymore!" Then she said, "Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don't do any more damage! Otherwise, they'll destroy my son!" So he promised, "As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son's head will fall to the ground!" At this, the woman responded, "Would your majesty the king please allow your humble servant to say one more thing?" "Say it"" he replied. "Why, then," the woman asked, "are you planning to act just like this against God's people? Based on what your majesty has said, you're acting like one who is guilty himself, because you're not bringing back the one whom you've banished! After all, even though we all die, and we're all like water being spilled on the ground that cannot be recovered, nevertheless God doesn't take away life, but carries out his plans so as not to cast away permanently from him those who are presently estranged. "Now as to why I've come to speak with your majesty the king, it's because the people have made me afraid, so your humble servant told herself, "I'll go speak to the king, so perhaps the king will do what his humble servant has requested. Perhaps the king will listen and deliver his humble servant from the oppression of the man who intends to eliminate both me and my son from what God has apportioned to us!' "So your humble servant is saying, "Please, your majesty, let what the king has to say be of comfort, because just as the angel of God is, so also is your majesty the king to discern both good and evil. And may the LORD your God remain present with you.'" In reply, the king asked the woman, "Please don't conceal anything about which I'm going to be asking you now." So the woman replied, "Please, your majesty, let the king speak." Then the king asked, "Is Joab behind all of this with you?" "As your soul lives, your majesty, the king," the woman answered, "no one can divert anything left or right from what your majesty the king has spoken! As a matter of fact, it was your servant Joab! He was there, giving me precise orders about everything that your humble servant was to say. Your servant Joab did this, intending to change the outcome of this matter. Nevertheless, your majesty is wise, like the wisdom of the angel of God, to be aware of everything that's going on throughout the earth."

But we'll agree to your request, only if you will become like us by circumcising every male among you. Then we'll give our daughters to you and take your daughters for ourselves, live among you, and be as a united people. But if you won't listen to us, then we're going to take our daughter and leave." read more.
What they said pleased Hamor and his son Shechem, so the young man did not delay the matter any further, since he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. Now Shechem was the most important person in his father's household. So Hamor and his son Shechem entered the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city. "These men are at peace with us," they announced. "Therefore, let them live in the land and trade in it. Look! The land is large enough for them. Let's take their daughters as wives for ourselves and let's give our sons to them. "However," they added, "only on this condition will the men consent to live with us and be united as a single people with us: every male among us will have to be circumcised just as they are. Shouldn't all their cattle, acquisitions, and animals belong to us? So, let's give our consent to them, and then they'll live with us." All of the males who heard Hamor and his son Shechem, who had gone out to the city gate, were circumcised. Three days later, while they were still in pain, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah's brothers, each grabbed a sword and entered the city unannounced, intending to kill all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took back Dinah from Shechem's house, and left. Jacob's other sons came along afterward and plundered the city where their sister had been defiled, seizing all of their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or had been left out in the field. They carried off all their wealth, their children, and their wives as captives, plundering everything that remained in the houses. Then Jacob told Simeon and Levi, "You have certainly stirred up trouble for me! You've made me despised by the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in this territory. Because I have only a few men with me, they're going to gather themselves together and attack me until I am totally destroyed, along with my entire household!" "Should he have treated our sister like a whore?" they asked in response.

Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value." But Naboth replied to Ahab, "No way! The LORD prohibits the sale to you of the inheritance of my ancestors!" Ahab went back to his palace, sullen and in a foul mood, because Naboth the Jezreelite had turned down Ahab's offer by saying "I will not transfer my ancestors' inheritance to you!" He laid down on his bed, curled up with his face to the wall, and refused to eat. read more.
But his wife Jezebel went to him and asked him, "How is it that you're so sullen and refusing to eat?" "I asked Naboth the Jezreelite, "Sell me your vineyard for cash, or if you want, I'll give you a better one in its place.' But he refused. He told me, "I won't give you my vineyard!'" "Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns." So she wrote some memos in Ahab's name, set his personal seal to them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. In the memos, she wrote the following directives: "Proclaim a public fast and seat Naboth in the front row. Seat two wicked men in front of him, and make them testify against him. Tell them to claim "You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death." So the leading men of the city, along with the elders and nobles who lived there, did precisely what Jezebel had directed them to do. They followed the instructions that she had set forth in the memos: They proclaimed a public fast and seated Naboth in the front row. Two wicked men came in, sat down in front of them, and testified against Naboth in public, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Afterwards, they sent a message to Jezebel that said, "Naboth has been stoned. He's dead." When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, "Get up and confiscate Naboth's vineyard that he refused to sell you for cash. Naboth the Jezreelite isn't alive anymore. He's dead!" So once he heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up, went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, and confiscated it.

Then the five men who had gone to scout out the territory of Laish told their relatives, "Are you aware that in these houses there's an ephod, some household idols, a carved image, and a cast image? You know what you need to do." So they turned aside from there, went to Micah's house, and greeted him. While the 600 Danite soldiers, armed with military weapons, stood guard at the entrance to the gate, read more.
the five men who had gone to scout out the land arrived, entered Micah's home and confiscated the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the cast image. Meanwhile, the priest stood outside by the entrance to the gate with the 600 men armed with military weapons. After they went into Micah's home and took possession of the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the cast image, the priest challenged them. "What are you doing?" he asked them. They told him, "Shut up and keep quiet. Come with us and be our spiritual father and priest. It's better for you, isn't it, to be a priest to an entire tribe and family in Israel than to be priest to the home of one man?" The priest was happy to oblige, so he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image and went along with the army. Then they turned around and left, sending their little ones, their livestock, and their valuables on ahead.

Rebekah gave these instructions to her son Jacob: "Quick! Pay attention!" she said. "I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. He told him, "Bring me some game and then prepare some food for me so I can eat and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.' So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. read more.
Go to the flock and bring me two healthy young goats. I'll prepare some delicious food for your father, just the way he loves it. Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." "But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned. My father might touch me and he'll realize that I'm deceiving him. Then, I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." "My son," she replied, "let any curse against you fall on me. Just listen to me, then go and get them for me." So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took some garments that belonged to her elder son Esau the best ones available and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob,

Rebekah gave these instructions to her son Jacob: "Quick! Pay attention!" she said. "I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. He told him, "Bring me some game and then prepare some food for me so I can eat and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.' So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. read more.
Go to the flock and bring me two healthy young goats. I'll prepare some delicious food for your father, just the way he loves it. Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." "But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned. My father might touch me and he'll realize that I'm deceiving him. Then, I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." "My son," she replied, "let any curse against you fall on me. Just listen to me, then go and get them for me." So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took some garments that belonged to her elder son Esau the best ones available and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob, who went to his father and said, "My father"" "It's me!" he replied. "Which one are you, my son?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn!" Jacob told his father. "I've done what you asked, so please sit up and eat what I caught, so you can bless me." "How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, ""because the LORD your God made me successful." So Isaac told Jacob, "Come here, my son, so I can feel you and know for sure whether or not you're my son Esau." So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands." He didn't recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau, so Isaac blessed him. He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. "Come closer to me," Isaac replied, "so I can eat some of the game, my son, and then bless you." So Jacob came closer, and Isaac ate. Jacob also brought wine so his father could drink. After this, Jacob's father Isaac told him, "Come closer and kiss me, my son." So Jacob drew closer to kiss him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his son's clothes, he blessed him and said, "How my son's scent is the fragrance of the field that the LORD has blessed. May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine. May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed."

He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.

Meanwhile, Laban had been out shearing his sheep. While he was away, Rachel stole her father's personal idols.

He told his mother, "Do you remember those 1,100 silver coins that were stolen from you and about which you uttered a curse when I could hear it? Well, I have the silver. I took it." So she replied, "May my son be blessed by the LORD."

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

"Everyone who keeps on hearing these messages of mine and never puts them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.

The LORD hates false scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

"Now as for the merchant, deceitful balances remain in his hand, and he loves to defraud.

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

"This is bad, bad," says whoever is buying but then he brags as he walks away after the sale.

As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn't lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool."

A fortune gained by deceit is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

"How terrible for him who builds his house without righteousness, and its upper rooms without justice, who makes his neighbor work for nothing, and does not pay him his wage.

A little gain with righteousness is better than great income without justice.

Whoever oppresses the poor to enrich himself and whoever gives gifts to the wealthy will yield only loss.

to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans!

They take bribes among you to shed blood. You've taken usury and exacted interest. You've gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you've forgotten me," declares the Lord GOD.

"Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won't live and planting fine vineyards from which you won't drink

"But when that servant went away, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, seized him by the throat, and said, "Pay what you owe!'

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

"Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns."

But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized.

But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it.

I've lived in your house these 20 years serving fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flocks. During all that time you changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole among their own belongings.

Later, Elisha left there to go up to Bethel, and as he was traveling along the road, some insignificant young men came from the city and started mocking him. They told him, "Get on up, baldy! Get on up, baldy!"

Even little children hate me; when I get up, they mock me.

"A wretched crowd ambushes me to my right; they trip my feet; they build up their path of calamity for me.

People will oppress one another It will be man against man and neighbor against neighbor. The young will be disrespectful to the old, and the worthless to the honorable.

"You are not to oppress your neighbor or rob him. "The wages of a hired laborer are not to remain in your possession until morning.

You know the commandments: "Never murder.' "Never commit adultery.' "Never steal.' "Never give false testimony.' "Never cheat.' "Honor your father and mother.'"

Instead, you yourselves practice doing wrong and cheating others, and brothers at that!