1242 verses about Materialism

While then he takes thought for it that it may not fall down, Knowing that it is unable to help itself; (For verily it is an image, and has need of help;)

When he makes his prayer concerning goods and his marriage and children, He is not ashamed to speak to that which has no life;

And for gaining and getting and good success of his hands He asks ability of that which with its hands is most unable.

For that vessel the hunger for gains devised, And a craftsman, even wisdom, built it;

But the idol made with hands is accursed, itself and he that made it; Because his was the working, and the corruptible thing was named a god:

And also, laboring to an evil end, he mouldeth a vain god out of the same clay, He who, having but a little before been made of earth, After a short space goes his way to the earth out of which he was taken, When he is required to render back the soul which was lent him.

Howbeit he has anxious care, Not because his powers must fail, Nor because his span of life is short; But he matcheth himself against goldsmiths and silversmiths, And he imitateth moulders in brass, And esteemeth it glory that he mouldeth counterfeits.

His heart is ashes, And his hope of less value than earth, And his life of less honor than clay:

But he accounted our very life to be a plaything, And our lifetime a gainful fair; For, says he, one must get gain whence one can, though it be by evil.

For a man made them, And one whose own spirit is borrowed moulded them; For no one has power, being a man, to mould a god like to himself,

She will fill all her house with desirable things, And her garners with her produce.

Let not your hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when you should repay.

Set not your heart upon your goods; And say not, They are sufficient for me.

Set not your heart upon unrighteous gains: For you will profit nothing in the day of calamity.

And in your prosperity he will be as yourself, And will be bold over your servants:

Say not, He will look upon the multitude of my gifts, And when I offer to the Most High God, he will accept it.

Change not a friend for a thing indifferent; Neither a true brother for the gold of Ophir.

Hast you cattle? have an eye to them; And if they are profitable to you, let them stay by you.

Better is he that labores, and abounds in all things, Than he that glorifieth himself, and lacketh bread.

A poor man is glorified for his knowledge; And a rich man is glorified for his riches.

But he that is glorified in poverty, how much more in riches? And he that is inglorious in riches, how much more in poverty?

There is one that toileth, and labores, and makes haste, And is so much the more behind.

There is that waxes rich by his wariness and pinching, And this is the portion of his reward:

When he says, I have found rest, And now will I eat of my goods; Yet he knows not what time will pass, And he will leave them to others, and die.

In a man’s prosperity his enemies are grieved; And in his adversity even his friend will be separated from him.

Take not up a burden above your strength; And have no fellowship with one that is mightier and richer than yourself. What fellowship shall the earthen pot have with the kettle? This will strike, and that will be dashed in pieces.

If you be profitable, he will make merchandise of you; And if you be in lack, he will forsake you.

If you have substance, he will live with you; And he will make you bare, and will not be sorry.

Wild asses are the prey of lions in the wilderness; So poor men are pasture for the rich.

Lowliness is an abomination to a proud man; So a poor man is an abomination to the rich.

When a rich man is fallen, there are many helpers; He speaks things not to be spoken, and men justify him: A man of low degree falls, and men rebuke him withal; He utters wisdom, and no place is allowed him.

A rich man speaks, and all keep silence; And what he says they extol to the clouds: A poor man speaks, and they say, Who is this? And if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him.

Riches are good that have no sin; And poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly.

Riches are not comely for a niggard; And what should an envious man do with money?

He that gathers by taking from his own soul gathers for others; And others will revel in his goods.

He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? And he will not rejoice in his possessions.

A covetous man’s eye is not satisfied with his portion; And wicked injustice dries up his soul.

An evil eye is grudging of bread, And he is miserly at his table

My son, according as you have, do well to yourself, And bring offerings to the Lord worthily.

Shall you not leave your labors to another? And your toils to be divided by lot?

Give, and take, and decieve your soul; For there is no seeking of luxury in the grave.

In the days of fulness remember the time of hunger, And poverty and lack in the days of wealth.

Go not after your lusts; And refrain yourself from your appetites.

Make not merry in much luxury; Neither be tied to the expense thereof.

Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, When you have nothing in your purse.

A workman that is a drunkard will not become rich: He that despises small things will fall by little and little.

There is a prosperity that a man finds in misfortunes; And there is a gain that turns to loss.

There is that buys much for a little, And pays for it again sevenfold.

The gift of a fool will not profit you; For his eyes are many instead of one.

He will give little, and upbraid much; And he will open his mouth like a crier: Today he will lend, and tomorrow he will ask it again: Such an one is a hateful man.

Presents and gifts blind the eyes of the wise, And as a muzzle on the mouth, turn away reproofs.

Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is out of sight, What profit is in them both?

Terror and violence will lay waste riches; So the house of a haughty man will be laid waste.

He that builds his house with other men’s money Is like one that gathers himself stones against winter.

But three sorts of men my soul hates, And I am greatly offended at their life: A poor man that is haughty, and a rich man that is a liar, And an old man that is an adulterer lacking understanding.

A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrong doing; And a huckster will not be acquitted of sin.

Many have sinned for a thing indifferent; And he that seeks to multiply gain will turn his eye away.

A nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones; And sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling.

Look that you hedge your possession about with thorns; Bind up your silver and your gold;

Till he has received, he will kiss a man’s hands; And for his neighbor’s money he will speak submissly: And when payment is due, he will prolong the time, And return words of heaviness, and complain of the times.

Better is the life of a poor man under a shelter of logs, Than sumptuous fare in another man’s house.

With little or with much, be well satisfied.

Health and a good constitution are better than all gold; And a strong body than wealth without measure.

Good things poured out upon a mouth that is closed Are as messes of meat laid upon a grave.

Wakefulness that comes of riches consumes the flesh, And the anxiety thereof puts away sleep.

A rich man toileth in gathering money together; And when he rests, he is filled with his good things.

A poor man toileth in lack of substance; And when he rests, he becomes needy.

He that loves gold shall not be justified; And he that follows destruction shall himself have his fill of it.

Many have been given over to ruin for the sake of gold; And their perdition meets them face to face.

It is a stumbling block to those who sacrifice to it; And every fool shall be taken therewith.

Blessed is the rich that is found without blemish, And that goes not after gold.

Sittest you at a great table? be not greedy upon it, And say not, Many are the things upon it.

Remember that an evil eye is a wicked thing: What has been created more evil than an eye? Therefore it sheds tears from every face.

Be first to leave off for manners’ sake; And be not insatiable, lest you offend.

Healthy sleep comes of moderate eating; He rises early, and his wits are with him: The pain of wakefulness, and colic, And griping, are with an insatiable man.

Him that is a niggard of his meat the city shall murmur at; And the testimony of his niggardness shall be sure.

To son and wife, to brother and friend, Give not power over you while you live; And give not your goods to another, Lest you repent and make supplication for them again.

For better it is that your children should supplicate you, Than that you should look to the hand of your sons.

In the day that you endest the days of your life, And in the time of death, distribute your inheritance.

One building, and another pulling down, What profit have they had but toil?

Forget not a friend in your soul; And be not unmindful of him in your riches.

Be not insatiable in any luxury, And be not greedy on the things that you eatest.

The goods of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, And like a great thunder in rain shall go off in noise.

The life of one that labores, and is contented, shall be made sweet; And he that finds a treasure is above both.

Your eye shall desire grace and beauty; And above both the green blade of corn.

Gold and silver will make the foot stand sure; And counsel is esteemed above them both.

Riches and strength will lift up the heart; And the fear of the Lord is above both: There is nothing lacking in the fear of the Lord, And there is no need to seek help therein.

A man that looks to the table of another, His life is not to be counted for a life; He will pollute his soul with another man’s meats: But a man wise and well-instructed will beware thereof.

O death, how bitter is the remembrance of you to a man that is at peace in his possessions, To the man that has nothing to distract him, and has prosperity in all things, And that still has strength to receive meat!

Have regard to your name; For it continueth with you longer than a thousand great treasures of gold.

Of exactness of balance and weights; And of getting much or little;

With twisted scarlet, the work of the craftsman; With precious stones graven like a signet, in a setting of gold, the work of the jeweller, For a memorial engraved in writing, after the number of the tribes of Israel;

By the name of the Lord God, Which is called the God of Israel, You did gather gold as tin, And did multiply silver as lead.

In his days the cistern of waters was diminished, The brazen vessel in compass as the sea.

those who had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and those who hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust; and of whose getting there is no end?

For those who wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are past finding out,

Give not your glory to another, nor the things that are profitable to you to a strange nation.

For their tongue is polished by the workman, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and with silver; yet are they but false, and can’t speak.

And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loves to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods:

and sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves;