Warnings About Wealth (21 Bible Verses on Money)

There are many misconceptions that the Bible teaches wealth and money are inherently bad, but this isn’t true. The principle of wealth is established by God as a blessing for being faithful and following His commands, and a tool for fulfilling His purposes for our lives and the lives of others. However, many of our life decisions are influenced by how much money we have, which can lead us to trust less in God and more in our ability to provide for ourselves based on our bank account. The Bible offers warnings about wealth, reminding us that it becomes dangerous when we focus on money and possessions more than on God. Understanding these warnings helps us navigate life as we accumulate wealth, avoiding the false sense of security that money promises and instead trusting in God as our ultimate provider, who gives us everything we need.

1. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV): “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
   
   
2. Matthew 6:24 (NIV): “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
   
   
3. Proverbs 11:28 (NIV): “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”
   
   
4. Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV): “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”
   
   
5. Luke 12:15 (NIV): “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.'”
   
   
6. James 5:1-3 (NIV): “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.”
   
   
7. Proverbs 23:4-5 (NIV): “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. 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.”
   
   
8. Matthew 19:23-24 (NIV): “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'”
   
   
9. Luke 6:24 (NIV): “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
   
   
10. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV): “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
    
    
11. Luke 16:13 (NIV): “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
    
    
12. Proverbs 28:20 (NIV): “A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”
    
    
13. Revelation 3:17 (NIV): “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
    
    
14. James 1:10-11 (NIV): “But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.”
    
    
15. Zephaniah 1:18 (NIV): “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.”
    
    
16. Ezekiel 7:19 (NIV): “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin.”
    
    
17. Isaiah 5:8 (NIV): “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.”
    
    
18. Jeremiah 17:11 (NIV): “Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools.”
    
    
19. Proverbs 21:6 (NIV): “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.”
    
    
20. Ecclesiastes 4:8 (NIV): “There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. ‘For whom am I toiling,’ he asked, ‘and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?’ This too is meaningless—a miserable business!”
    
    
21. Micah 6:12 (NIV): “Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.”