Worldliness: General Scriptures Concerning
Source: Nav
1 Samuel 8:19, 20
Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. / Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to judge us, to go out before us, and to fight our battles.”
Job 20:4–29
Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, / the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary? / Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
Job 21:11–15
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, / singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. / They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.
Psalm 49:16–18
Do not be amazed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. / For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down. / Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
Psalm 73:2–22
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. / For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. / They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.
Proverbs 14:12, 13
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. / Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
Proverbs 15:21
Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.
Proverbs 21:17
He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.
Proverbs 23:20, 21
Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. / For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
Proverbs 27:1, 7
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. / The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.
Ecclesiastes 1:8
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 2:1–12
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile. / I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” / I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
Ecclesiastes 6:11, 12
For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone? / For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 8:15–17
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. / When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night— / I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
Ecclesiastes 10:19
A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.
Ecclesiastes 11:9, 10
Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. / So banish sorrow from your heart, and cast off pain from your body, for youth and vigor are fleeting.
Isaiah 22:12, 13
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. / But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
Isaiah 24:7–11
The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. / The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. / They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.
Isaiah 28:4
The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.
Isaiah 32:9–11
Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. / In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive. / Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.
Isaiah 47:7–9
You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome. / So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’ / These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
Hosea 9:1, 11, 13
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor. / Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. / I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter.
Amos 6:3–7
You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. / You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. / You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
Micah 2:10
Arise and depart, for this is not your place of rest, because its defilement brings destruction—a grievous destruction!
Micah 6:14
You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.
Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
Matthew 6:25–34
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? / Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? / Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 10:39
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 16:25, 26
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. / What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 18:1–4
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” / Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. / “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 22:2–6
“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. / He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come. / Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
Matthew 24:38, 39
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. / And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Mark 4:19
but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 8:35–37
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. / What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? / Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 9:33–36
Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” / But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. / Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Luke 8:14
The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
Luke 9:46–48
Then an argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. / But Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, had a little child stand beside Him. / And He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest.”
Luke 12:19
Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
Luke 14:17–24
When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ / But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’ / Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’
Luke 16:1–13, 19–25
Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. / So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’ / The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.
Luke 17:26–29, 33
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: / People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. / It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
Luke 21:34
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
John 5:44
How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
John 12:25, 43
Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. / For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
John 15:19
If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
1 Corinthians 7:29–31
What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; / those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing; / and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
1 Corinthians 10:6
These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
1 Corinthians 15:32
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Philippians 3:18, 19
For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. / Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
Colossians 3:2, 5
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. / Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
1 Timothy 5:6
But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.
2 Timothy 2:4, 22
A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him. / Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2 Timothy 3:2–7
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, / unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, / traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Titus 2:12
It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
Hebrews 11:24–26
By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. / He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. / He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.
James 2:1–4
My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. / Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. / If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
James 4:4, 9
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. / Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
James 5:5
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
1 Peter 1:14, 24
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. / For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
1 Peter 4:3, 4
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. / Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.
2 Peter 2:12–15, 18
These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. / The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. / Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. / For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. / The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Jude 1:11–13, 16, 19
Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. / These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted. / They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.