If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, “You are my security,” if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. Though while they live they count themselves blessed—and people praise you when you prosper—they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life. Human beings who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.

The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying, “Here now is the one who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends … The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly … The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale … The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let those who boast boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

Jb 31:24-28; Ps 49:16-20; Ps 52:6-7; Pr 14:20, Pr 18:23, Pr 18:11, Pr 28:11; Je 9:23-24

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.