22 Bible Verses about Dishonesty

Balances of deceit [are] an abomination of Yahweh, but {an accurate weight} delights him.

[The] trader, in his hand [are] scales of deceit; he loves to oppress.

Shall I regard as pure [the one] with scales of wickedness, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

"Bad, bad," the buyer will say, but [when] one goes to him, then he will boast.

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

He who makes treasure by a lying tongue [is a] fleeting vapor [and] seeker of death.

Woe [to the one who] builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice. His fellow countryman, he works for nothing, and he does not give to him his wages.

Better is little with righteousness than great income with no justice.

He who oppresses the poor [in order] to enrich himself, [or] gives to the rich, {will come to poverty}.

to guide [the] needy away from legal claims, and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.

They take a bribe among you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain [from] your neighbors by extortion, and [so] you have forgotten me, {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore, because you trample on [the] poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine.

But that slave went out [and] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke [him], saying, 'Pay back everything that you owe!'

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!

Jezebel his wife said to him, "Now, you {rule} over Israel. Get up, eat food, and let your heart be {cheerful}. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized.

Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours." And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

These twenty years [I have been] in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings.

" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.

You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

But you wrong and defraud, and [do] this [to] brothers!

Balances of deceit [are] an abomination of Yahweh, but {an accurate weight} delights him.

[The] trader, in his hand [are] scales of deceit; he loves to oppress.

Shall I regard as pure [the one] with scales of wickedness, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

"Bad, bad," the buyer will say, but [when] one goes to him, then he will boast.

Jezebel his wife said to him, "Now, you {rule} over Israel. Get up, eat food, and let your heart be {cheerful}. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized.

Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours." And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

These twenty years [I have been] in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings.

And Jacob said to Laban, "Give [me] my wife, that I may go in to her, for {my time} is completed." So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast. And it happened [that] in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her. read more.
And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter [as] a female servant. And it happened [that] in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah! And he said to Laban, "What [is] this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?" Then Laban said, "{It is not the custom} in our country to give the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, then I will also give you the other, {on the condition that you will work for me} another seven years." And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this [one], then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife. And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant. Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What [is] my offense? What [is] my sin that you pursued after me? For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us! These twenty years I [was] with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat. read more.
I brought no mangled carcass to you--I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. [There] I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years [I have been] in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night."

Because of this, [since we] have this ministry, just as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person's conscience before God.

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized.

And the Philistines stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father. They filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go [away] from us, for you have become much too powerful for us." So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there. read more.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham. And he gave to them {the same names} which his father had given them. And when the servants of Isaac dug in the valley, they found a well of fresh water there. Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours." And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. And they dug another well, and they quarreled over it also. And he called its name Sitnah. Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. And he called its name Rehoboth, and said, "Now Yahweh has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

Once Jacob cooked a thick stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, "Give me {some of that red stuff} to gulp down, for I am exhausted!" (Therefore his name was called Edom). Then Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright {first}." read more.
And Esau said, "Look, I am going to die; now what [is] this birthright to me?" Then Jacob said, "Swear to me {first}." And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

And he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep [them]. Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That shall be my wages. And my righteousness will answer for me {later} when you come concerning my wages before you. Every [one] that [is] not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen [if it is] with me." read more.
Then Laban said, "Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word." But that day he removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that [had] white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and {put them in the charge of his sons}. And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban's flock. Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which [was] on the branches. And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs [and] in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink. And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban's flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches {in full view} of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put [them there]. So the feebler were Laban's and the stronger [were] Jacob's. And the man became {exceedingly} rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.

Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings. The {Israelites} were unable to stand before their enemies; {they fled from their enemies} because they have become a thing devoted for destruction. {I will be with you no more} unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "[There are] devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things from your midst." read more.
In the morning you will come forward, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe that Yahweh will select by lot will come forward by clans, and the clan that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward by families, and the family that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward one by one. The one caught with the devoted things will be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because {he transgressed the covenant} of Yahweh, and because he did a disgraceful thing in Israel." '" So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot. And he brought forward the clans of Judah and selected the clan of the Zerahites by lot. Then he brought forward the clan of the Zerahites, one by one, and Zabdi was selected by lot. He brought forward his family, one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected by lot. And Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court. Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide [it] from me." And Achan answered Joshua and said, "It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did: I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold [that] weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They [are] hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver [is] under it." Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there [they were], hidden in his tent, and the silver [was] under it. And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the {Israelites}. And they spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his cattle and donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that [was] his, and they brought them [to] the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, "Why did you bring us trouble? Yahweh will bring you trouble on this day." And all Israel stoned them [with] stones; and they burned them with fire [after] they stoned them with stones. Then {they placed} on top of him a great pile of stones [that remains] to this day. And Yahweh {turned from his burning anger}, and thus the name of that place to this day is called the valley of Achor.

So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself [with] oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for {a long time}. Then you must go to the king and speak to him according to this word." [Thus] Joab put the words in her mouth. So the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance. She said, "Help me, O king!" read more.
Then the king asked her, "{What do you want}?" And she said, "Truly I [am] a widow, and my husband [is] dead. Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there [was] no one {to part them}. One struck the other and killed him. And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, 'Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,' and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth." Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I myself will give the command concerning you." The Tekoite woman said to the king, "On me, my lord the king, [is] the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on his throne [is] innocent." The king said, "[Whoever] has spoken to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again." Then she said, "Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, {to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill}, [so that they] not wipe out my son." He said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground." The woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king." And he said, "Speak." The woman said, "But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one. For {we must certainly die}, and [we are] as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him. Now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid, and your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king, perhaps the king will grant the request of his servant. For the king will listen, to deliver his servant from the hand of the man [who seeks] to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.' Your servant also thought, 'May the word of my lord the king {bring rest}, for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, {to sense what is good and what is bad}.' May Yahweh your God be with you." The king answered and said to the woman, "Please do not withhold from me a thing which I [am] about to ask you." The woman said, "Please let my lord the king speak." The king asked, "[Was] the hand of Joab with you in all of this?" The woman answered and said, "{As your soul lives}, my lord the king, surely [one cannot] go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant. In order {to change the situation}, your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord [has] wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that [is] on the earth."

Only on this [condition] will we give consent to you; if you will become like us--every male among you to be circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take for ourselves your daughters, and we will live with you and become one family. But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and we will go." read more.
And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, the son of Hamor. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he wanted the daughter of Jacob. Now he [was] the most honored of his father's house. Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, "These men [are] at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is {broad enough for them}. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them. Only on this [condition] will they give consent to us, to live with us [and] to become one family--when every male among us [is] circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals [be] ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us." And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city. And it happened [that] on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and went out. The [other] sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever [was] in the field. They captured and plundered all that [was] in the houses--all their wealth, their little ones, and their women. Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites! I [am] few in number! If they gather against me and attack me, I will be destroyed--I and my household!" But they said, "Shall he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard that it may be mine for a garden of vegetable plants, because it is near, beside my house, and I will give to you a better vineyard in place of it. If it is better in your eyes, I will give you the money of its price." Naboth said to Ahab, "Far be it from me from Yahweh that I should give the inheritance of my ancestors to you." Then Ahab went to his house, sullen and angry because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him [when] he had said, "I will not give to you the inheritance of my ancestors." So he lay on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat [any] food. read more.
Then Jezebel his wife came to him, and she said to him, "What is this, that your spirit is sullen and you are not eating food?" Then he said to her, "When I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and asked him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or it you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in place of it,' he said, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" Jezebel his wife said to him, "Now, you {rule} over Israel. Get up, eat food, and let your heart be {cheerful}. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab and sealed them with his seal. She sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who [were] dwelling with Naboth in his city. She had written in the letters, saying, "Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people. Seat two men, {scoundrels}, opposite him. Let them witness against him saying, 'You cursed God and the king.' Then you shall bring him out and stone him so that he dies." The men of his city and the elders and nobles who were living in his city did according to what Jezebel had sent to them, as [was] written in the letters which she had sent to them. They called a fast, and they seated Naboth at the head of the people. Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died. They sent to Jezebel saying, "Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead." It happened at the moment Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and died, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he had refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead." When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

And the five men that went out to spy out the land ([that is], Laish) responded and said to their relatives, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do." So they turned to that direction, and they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and {they greeted him}. And six hundred men from the descendants of Dan, armed [with] their weapons of war, [were] standing [at] the entrance of the gate. read more.
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and they entered there [and] took the carved divine image, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image. The priest [was] standing [at] the entrance of the gate [with] the six hundred men armed [with] the weapons of war. When these went to Micah's house, they took the divine carved image, ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, and the priest asked them, "What [are] you doing?" And they said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?" {The priest accepted the offer}, and he took the ephod, teraphim, and molten image and went along with the people. And they turned and went and put the little children, the livestock, and the valuable property in front of them.

Rebekah said to Jacob her son, "Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother saying, 'Bring wild game to me and prepare tasty food so I can eat [it] and bless you before Yahweh before my death.' So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I command you. read more.
Go to the flock and take two good young goats from it for me, and I will prepare them [as] tasty food for your father, just as he likes. Then you must take it to your father and he will eat [it] so that he may bless you before his death." Then Jacob said to his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother [is] a hairy man, but I [am] a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes [as] a mocker, and he will bring upon me a curse and not a blessing." Then his mother said to him, "Your curse be upon me, my son, only listen to my voice--go and get [them] for me." So he went and took [them], and brought [them] to his mother, and his mother prepared tasty food as his father liked. Then Rebekah took [some of] her older son Esau's best garments that [were] with her in the house, and she put [them] on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the young goats over his hands and over the smooth [part of] his neck. And she put the tasty food and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob, her son.

Rebekah said to Jacob her son, "Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother saying, 'Bring wild game to me and prepare tasty food so I can eat [it] and bless you before Yahweh before my death.' So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I command you. read more.
Go to the flock and take two good young goats from it for me, and I will prepare them [as] tasty food for your father, just as he likes. Then you must take it to your father and he will eat [it] so that he may bless you before his death." Then Jacob said to his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother [is] a hairy man, but I [am] a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes [as] a mocker, and he will bring upon me a curse and not a blessing." Then his mother said to him, "Your curse be upon me, my son, only listen to my voice--go and get [them] for me." So he went and took [them], and brought [them] to his mother, and his mother prepared tasty food as his father liked. Then Rebekah took [some of] her older son Esau's best garments that [were] with her in the house, and she put [them] on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the young goats over his hands and over the smooth [part of] his neck. And she put the tasty food and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob, her son. And he went to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I [am]. Who [are] you, my son?" And Jacob said to his father, "I [am] Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please get up, sit up and eat from my wild game so that you may bless me." Then Isaac said to his son, "{How} did you find [it] so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because Yahweh your God {caused me to find it}." Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please, come near and let me feel you, my son. {Are you really} my son Esau or not?" And Jacob drew near to Isaac his father. And he felt him and said, "The voice [is] the voice of Jacob, but the hands [are] the hands of Esau." And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother. And he blessed him. And he said, "{Are you really} my son Esau?" And he said, "I [am]." Then he said, "Bring [it] near to me that I may eat from the game of my son, so that I may bless you." And he brought [it] to him, and he ate. And he brought wine to him, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." And he drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and he blessed him and said, "Look, the smell of my son [is] like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; Be lord of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you."

(Now he said this not because {he was concerned} about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, he used to steal what was put into [it].)

Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols that belonged to her father.

And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from you, and about which you also pronounced a curse {in my hearing}, are with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh."

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

(Now he said this not because {he was concerned} about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, he used to steal what was put into [it].)

Balances of deceit [are] an abomination of Yahweh, but {an accurate weight} delights him.

[The] trader, in his hand [are] scales of deceit; he loves to oppress.

Shall I regard as pure [the one] with scales of wickedness, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

"Bad, bad," the buyer will say, but [when] one goes to him, then he will boast.

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

He who makes treasure by a lying tongue [is a] fleeting vapor [and] seeker of death.

Woe [to the one who] builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice. His fellow countryman, he works for nothing, and he does not give to him his wages.

Better is little with righteousness than great income with no justice.

He who oppresses the poor [in order] to enrich himself, [or] gives to the rich, {will come to poverty}.

to guide [the] needy away from legal claims, and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.

They take a bribe among you in order to shed blood; and you take usury, and you make gain [from] your neighbors by extortion, and [so] you have forgotten me, {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Therefore, because you trample on [the] poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine.

But that slave went out [and] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke [him], saying, 'Pay back everything that you owe!'

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!

Jezebel his wife said to him, "Now, you {rule} over Israel. Get up, eat food, and let your heart be {cheerful}. I myself will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized.

Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours." And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

These twenty years [I have been] in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings.

Then he went up from there [to] Bethel; as he [was] going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, "Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!"

Little boys also despise me; [when] I rise, then they talk against me.

On [the] right hand the brood rises up; {they put me to flight}, and they build up their {siege ramps} against me.

And the people will be oppressed {by each other} and a man by his neighbor. The boy will act arrogantly toward the elder, and the dishonorable toward the honorable.

" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.

You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

But you wrong and defraud, and [do] this [to] brothers!