Dishonesty: General Scriptures Concerning
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Leviticus 6:2–7
“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor / or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit— / once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,
Leviticus 19:13, 35, 36
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. / You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. / You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 25:13–16
You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. / You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small. / You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Job 24:2–11
Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks. / They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge. / They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
Psalm 37:21
The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.
Psalm 50:18
When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
Psalm 62:10
Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
Proverbs 3:27, 28
Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act. / Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.
Proverbs 11:1
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
Proverbs 20:10, 14, 17, 23
Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD. / “Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer, but on the way out, he gloats. / Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
Isaiah 32:7
The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
Jeremiah 7:8–10
But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail. / Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known, / and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?
Jeremiah 9:4–6, 8
“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander. / Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity. / You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 22:13
“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
Ezekiel 22:29
The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
Hosea 4:1, 2
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! / Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Hosea 12:7
A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
Amos 3:10
“For they know not how to do right,” declares the LORD. “They store up violence and destruction in their citadels.”
Amos 8:5
asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
Micah 6:10, 11
Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed? / Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?
Nahum 3:1
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
Zephaniah 1:9
On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.
Zechariah 5:3, 4
Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed. / I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”
Luke 16:1–8
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.
1 Thessalonians 4:6
and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
James 5:4
Look, 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.