25 Bible Verses about Waste

A few days later the younger son got together all that he had, and went away into a distant land; and there he squandered his inheritance by leading a dissolute life. After he has spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be in actual want. So he went and engaged himself to one of the people of that country, who sent him into his fields to tend pigs.read more.
He even longed to satisfy his hunger with the bean-pods on which the pigs were feeding; and no one gave him anything.

Jesus said to his disciples: "There was a rich man who had a steward; and this steward was maliciously accused to him of wasting his estate.

Listen to me, you rich men, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches have wasted away, and your clothes have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusted; and the rust on them shall be evidence against you, and shall eat into your very flesh. It was fire, so to speak, that you stored up for yourselves in these last days.read more.
I tell you, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have been fraudulently keeping back, are crying out against you, and the outcries of your reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts! You have lived on earth a life of extravagance and luxury; you have indulged your fancies in a time of bloodshed. You have condemned, you have murdered, the Righteous One! Must not God be opposed to you?

Surely in the past you have spent time enough living as the Gentiles delight to live. For your path has lain among scenes of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, revelry, hard-drinking, and profane idolatry. And, because you do not run to the same extremes of profligacy as others, they are astonished, and malign you. But they will have to answer for their conduct to him who is ready to judge both the living and the dead.

When they were satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples: "Collect the broken pieces that are left, so that nothing may be wasted." The disciples did so, and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, which were left after all had eaten.

"Only a little while longer," answered Jesus, "will you have the Light among you. Travel on while you have the Light, so that darkness may not overtake you; he who travels in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you still have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may be 'Sons of Light.'" After he had said this, Jesus went away, and hid himself from them.

Therefore, as God's fellow-workers, we also appeal to you not to receive his loving-kindness in vain.

But now that you have found God--or, rather, have been found by him--how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves? You are scrupulous in keeping Days and Months and Seasons and Years! You make me fear that the labor which I have spent on you may have been wasted.

Remember, if we sin willfully after we have gained a full knowledge of the Truth, there can be no further sacrifice for sin; there is only a fearful anticipation of judgment, and a burning indignation which will destroy all opponents. When a man disregarded the Law of Moses, he was, on the evidence of two or three witnesses, put to death without pity.read more.
How much worse then, think you, will be the punishment deserved by those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, who have treated the blood that rendered the Covenant valid--the very blood by which they were purified--as of no account, and who have outraged the Spirit of Love?

It would, indeed, have been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn away from the holy Command delivered to them.

For it is as though a man, going on his travels, called his servants, and gave his property into their charge. He gave three thousand pounds to one, twelve hundred to another, and six hundred to a third, in proportion to the ability of each. Then he set out on his travels. The man who had received the three thousand pounds went at once and traded with it, and made another three thousand.read more.
So, too, the man who had received the twelve hundred pounds made another twelve hundred. But the man who had received the six hundred went and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those servants returned, and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the three thousand pounds came up and brought three thousand more. 'Sir,' he said, 'you entrusted me with three thousand pounds; look, I have made another three thousand!' 'Well done, good, trustworthy servant!' said his master. 'You have been trustworthy with a small sum; now I will place a large one in your hands; come and share your master's joy!' Then the one who had received the twelve hundred pounds came up and said 'Sir, you entrusted me with twelve hundred pounds; look, I have made another twelve hundred!' The man who had received the six hundred pounds came up, too, and said 'Sir, I knew that you were a hard man; you reap where you have not sown, and gather up where you have not winnowed; And, in my fear, I went and hid your money in the ground; look, here is what belongs to you!' 'You lazy, worthless servant!' was his master's reply. 'You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather up where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have placed my money in the hands of bankers, and I, on my return, should have received my money, with interest. 'Therefore,' he continued, 'take away from him the six hundred pounds, and give it to the one who has the six thousand. For, to him who has, more will be given, and he shall have abundance; but, as for him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away from him. As for the useless servant, 'put him out into the darkness' outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'

He said: "A nobleman once went to a distant country to receive his appointment to a Kingdom and then return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds each, and told them to trade with them during his absence. But his subjects hated him and sent envoys after him to say 'We will not have this man as our King.'read more.
On his return, after having been appointed King, he directed that the servants to whom he had given his money should be summoned, so that he might learn what amount of trade they had done. The first came up, and said 'Sir, your ten pounds have made a hundred.' 'Well done, good servant!' exclaimed the master. 'As you have proved trustworthy in a very small matter, I appoint you governor over ten towns.' When the second came, he said 'Your ten pounds, Sir, have produced fifty.' So the master said to him 'And you I appoint over five towns.' Another servant also came and said 'Sir, here are your ten pounds; I have kept them put away in a handkerchief. For I was afraid of you, because you are a stern man. You take what you have not planted, and reap what you have not sown.' The master answered 'Out of your own mouth I judge you, you worthless servant. You knew that I am a stern man, that I take what I have not planted, and reap what I have not sown? Then why did not you put my money into a bank? And I, on my return, could have claimed it with interest. Take away from him the ten pounds,' he said to those standing by, 'and give them to the one who has the hundred.' 'But, Sir,' they interposed, 'he has a hundred pounds already!' 'I tell you,' he answered, 'that, to him who has, more will be given, but, from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But as for my enemies, these men who would not have me as their King, bring them here and put them to death in my presence.'"

Making the most of every opportunity; for these are evil days.

We must do the work of him who sent me, while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

Therefore, I say, as the opportunity occurs, let us treat every one with kindness, and especially members of the Household of the Faith.

Show tact in your behavior to the outside world, making the most of every opportunity.

Do not give what is sacred to dogs; nor yet throw your pearls before pigs, lest they should trample them under their feet, and then turn and attack you.

The merely intellectual man rejects the teaching of the Spirit of God; for to him it is mere folly; he cannot grasp it, because it is to be understood only by spiritual insight.

Take care that no one becomes immoral, or irreligious like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that Jesus was condemned, repented of what he had done, and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the Chief Priests and Councillors. "I did wrong in betraying a good man to his death," he said. "What has that to do with us?" they replied. "You must see to that yourself." Judas flung down the pieces of silver in the Temple, and left; and went away and hanged himself.

After Jesus had reached Bethany, and while he was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and poured the perfume upon his head as he was at table. The disciples were indignant at seeing this. "What is this waste for?" they exclaimed.read more.
"It could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to poor people." "Why are you troubling the woman?" Jesus said, when he noticed it. "For this is a beautiful deed that she has done to me. You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this perfume on my body, she has done it for my burying. I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this Good News is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her."

When Jesus was still at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, while he was at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of choice spikenard perfume of great value. She broke the jar, and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those who were present said to one another indignantly: "Why has the perfume been wasted like this? This perfume could have been sold for more than thirty pounds, and the money given to the poor."read more.
"Let her alone," said Jesus, as they began to find fault with her, "why are you troubling her? This is a beautiful deed that she has done for me. You always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has perfumed my body beforehand for my burial. And I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, the Good News is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her."

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, was living. There a supper was given in honor at which Martha waited, while Lazarus was one of those present at the table. So Mary took a pound of choice spikenard perfume of great value, and anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and then wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with the scent of the perfume.read more.
One of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray Jesus, asked: "Why was not this perfume sold for thirty pounds, and the money given to poor people?" He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, being in charge of the purse, used to take what was put in it. "Let her alone," said Jesus, "that she may keep it till the day when my body is being prepared for burial. The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me."

Therefore, as I said, we do not lose heart. No, even though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.