978 verses about Greed

Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.

He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and don’t withhold.

A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.

The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.

Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;

put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.

Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies:

for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.

A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.

Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, “It’s not wrong.” He is a partner with a destroyer.

One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper.

The king by justice makes the land stable, but he who takes bribes tears it down.

lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.

“The leach has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough:’

Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn’t say, ‘Enough.’

For a servant when he is king; a fool when he is filled with food;

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.

Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand.

As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:

a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.

Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning!

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon. He leased out the vineyard to keepers. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water.

Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They don’t judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them.

Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

Yahweh will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and their leaders: “It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses.

What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.

Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field, until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the middle of the land!

Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!

Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;

who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!

They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:

My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.

Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows.

Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!

The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.

Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.

Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness.

Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.

“Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”

I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness, and struck him; I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’ “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and oppress all your laborers.

As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy.

“For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,” says Yahweh.

Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a plunder, and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.

As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the middle of his days, they will leave him. At his end, he will be a fool.

Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, yes, I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies. They will make them captives, take them, and carry them to Babylon.

“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;

But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”

“Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;