31 Bible Verses about Shrewdness

"Listen! I am sending you out as sheep surrounded by wolves. So you must be sensible like serpents and guileless like doves.

And his master praised the dishonest manager, because he acted with shrewd business sense, for the men of the world act with more business sense toward their fellows than the men who enjoy spiritual light. So I tell you, make friends by the right use of your money, which so easily tends to wrongdoing, so that when it fails, your friends may welcome you to the eternal dwellings.

Now He was saying to the disciples: "Once there was a rich man who had a household manager, and he was accused to his master of squandering the latter's property. So he called the manager to him and said, 'What is this that I am hearing about you? Balance your accounts and show how you are conducting my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, What shall I do, because my master is going to take my position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.read more.
I know what I will do -- I will ask them to take me into their homes when I am removed from my position. So he called in each of his master's debtors, and asked the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?' He answered, 'Nine hundred gallons of oil.' Then he said to him, 'Take your bill and sit right down and write four hundred and fifty.' Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He answered, 'Twelve hundred bushels of wheat:' He said to him, 'Take your bill and write nine hundred and sixty.'

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation. And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation.

Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built.

"Who then is the faithful and thoughtful slave, whom his master put in charge of his household, to deal out to the members of it their supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that slave if, when his master comes back, he finds him so doing. I solemnly say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful, thoughtful manager whom his master will put in charge of his household, to give out the supplies at the proper time? Happy is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of all his property.

But Jesus saw their malicious plot, and so asked, "Why are you testing me so, you hypocrites? Show me a poll-tax coin." And He asked them, "Whose likeness and title is this?"read more.
They answered, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Pay Caesar, therefore, what belongs to Caesar, and pay God what belongs to God." And when they heard it, they were dumbfounded; and they left Him and went away.

Should we pay it, or should we not?" Now because He saw their pretense, He said to them, "Why are you testing me so? Bring me a twenty-cent coin to look at." And they brought Him one. Then He asked them, "Whose picture and title is this?" They answered Him, "Caesar's." So He said, "Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and pay God what belongs to God." And they were utterly dumbfounded at Him.

But He detected their cunning, and said to them, "Show me a twenty-cent coin. Whose picture and title does it bear?" They answered, "Caesar's." He said to them, "Then pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and pay God what belongs to God!"read more.
So they could not use what he said before the people, and in astonishment at His answer they said no more.

But did you never read, on the resurrection of the dead, what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!' Now God is not the God of dead but of living men."

But as to the rising of the dead, did you never read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of dead but of living people! You are entirely wrong in your views."

But that the dead are raised, even Moses at the bush has demonstrated, when he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of dead but of living people, for all live to Him."

When the questioners persisted, Jesus straightened up and said to them, "Let the one of you who is sinless be the first one to cast a stone at her."

Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers.

But He was saying to her, "Let the children first eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it out to the house dogs." But she answered Him, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs under the table usually eat the crumbs the children drop." Then He said to her, "Because you have said this, go home; the demon has gone out of your daughter."

He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, wonderful is your faith! You must have what you want." And her daughter was cured at that very moment.

and said, "You expert in every form of deception and sleight-of-hand, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked!

so that we may not be babies any longer, or like sailors tossed about and driven around by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men through their cunning in inventing new methods of error.

For the Scripture says: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the learning of the learned."

For this world's wisdom is mere nonsense to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning," and again, "The Lord knows that the arguings of the wise are useless."

But I am apprehensive that, somehow or other, as the serpent by his cunning deceived Eve, your thoughts may be turned aside from single-hearted devotion to Christ.

to keep us from being worsted by Satan, for we know what his intentions are.

For such men are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also masquerade as ministers for doing right, whose doom shall be in accordance with what they do.

Then the Pharisees went and made a plot to trap Him in argument. So they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, to say to Him, "Teacher, we know that you are in the habit of telling the truth and of teaching the way of God in honesty, and you do not care what anyone says, for you are not partial. So give us your opinion on the question: Is it right to pay Caesar the poll-tax, or not?"

Then they sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Him to trap Him in argument. And they came up and said to Him, "We know that you always tell the truth, and pay no personal consideration to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly. Is it right to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Should we pay it, or should we not?" Now because He saw their pretense, He said to them, "Why are you testing me so? Bring me a twenty-cent coin to look at."

So they closely watched and sent spies who pretended to be upright men, to catch Him in His conversation, so as to turn Him over to the power and authority of the governor. They asked Him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and show no favors to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

Then the high priests and the elders of the people met in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted to arrest Jesus by stratagem and put Him to death.

Now the feast of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread was two days later. So the high priests and scribes kept looking for some way to arrest Him by stratagem and have Him put to death, for they kept saying, "It must not be at the feast, for there might be a riot."

Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was drawing near. So the high priests and the scribes continued to seek how they might put Him to death, for they were afraid of the people.

But let it be granted, you say, that I never received from you financial support, yet, you say, by being a trickster I cheated you by my cunning.