What Does the Bible Say About Fraud?
Here are 14 Bible verses about fraud, ordered by how relevant readers found them, with the King James Version and the modern Berean Standard Bible side by side.
- #1Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
BSBFood gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
- #2Luke 16:10-13
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
BSBWhoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
- #3Proverbs 13:11
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
BSBDishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.
- #4Micah 2:1-3:12
Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil. In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord. Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. …
BSBWoe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance. Therefore this is what the LORD says: “I am planning against this nation a disaster from which you cannot free your necks. Then you will not walk so proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’” Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot. “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.” …
- #5Proverbs 10:2
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
BSBIll-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- #6Leviticus 19:11
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
BSBYou must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.
- #7Proverbs 11:1
A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.
BSBDishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
- #8John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
BSBYou belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
- #9Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
BSBBut to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- #10Psalms 37:21
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
BSBThe wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
- #11James 5:4
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
BSBLook, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- #12Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
BSBDo not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- #13Psalms 44:21
Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
BSBwould not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
- #141 Timothy 6:9-10
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
BSBThose who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Verse rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY). Scripture: KJV & BSB (public domain).