Proverbs on Materialism

(Prov. 1:19) Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

(Prov. 3:9-10) Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

(Prov. 3:9-10) Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

(Prov. 10:2) Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.

(Prov. 10:3) The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

(Prov. 11:4) Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

(Prov. 11:28) Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

(Prov. 12:9) Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

(Prov. 13:7) One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

(Prov. 13:11) Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

(Prov. 14:20-21) The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. 21 He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

(Prov. 14:30) A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

(Prov. 14:31) He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

(Prov. 15:16) Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.

(Prov. 15:27) The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live.

(Prov. 16:8) Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

(Prov. 17:1) Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

(Prov. 17:5) He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker.

(Prov. 19:17) He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.

(Prov. 19:22) What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

(Prov. 21:6) A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

(Prov. 21:13) If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

(Prov. 22:2) Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.

(Prov. 22:9) A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

(Prov. 22:22-23) Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23 for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.

(Prov. 23:4-5) Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. 5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

(Prov. 25:16) If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit.

(Prov. 27:1) Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

(Prov. 28:11) The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

(Prov. 28:20) A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

(Prov. 28:22) The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

(Prov. 28:25) The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.

(Prov. 28:27) Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

(Prov. 29:7) The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

(Prov. 30:8-9) Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

(Eccl. 2)

(Eccl. 5:10-16) Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. 13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, 14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. 15 Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand. 16 This too is a grievous evil: As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind?

(Eccl. 6:2-3, 6-7) God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. 3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he… 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? 7 All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

(Eccl. 7:2) It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. (Eccl. 8:8) No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.

(Eccl. 8:8) No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.