Bible vs Money

Bible & Money · Commandments

The commandments, including the ones about money

Updated 2026-10-28 · 45 passages · World English Bible · each one linked for checking

The ten commandments are printed here whole, including the ones on murder and adultery. A list of money commandments that drops two of the ten is no longer the ten. Those two are not money laws, and the notes under them say so.

One thing to remember. A false weight, a held-back wage, and a bribe sit in the same Law as the Sabbath and the ban on theft.

Where next: Relationships and money, passage by passage · Honesty in business · Debt, borrowing, and surety · Interest and usury · How we read Scripture on money · Concordance

The words under each reference are the public-domain World English Bible, printed in full. The citation opens that passage on BibleGateway in the same translation, so you can read the chapter around it. A build check refuses to publish this page if a required reference is missing or does not match the Bible text the site is built from.

The ten commandments

Exodus 20 is the telling printed here. Deuteronomy 5 repeats the commands, and its coveting command is printed too, because that telling adds the neighbor's field.

Jewish, Catholic and Lutheran, and most Protestant and Orthodox traditions divide the ten in slightly different places, so the notes below name each command instead of numbering it.

These words were given to Israel at Sinai. Christians agree they still teach, and differ on how the Law of Moses applies after Christ. This site carries the Law's principles forward without treating its statutes as church law (How we read Scripture on money, rule 1).

Exodus 20:1-2 (WEB)

1God spoke all these words, saying, 2“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 20:1-2 · World English Bible, public domain

The commandments open with rescue, not with a bargain: Yahweh speaks as the God who brought Israel out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The rules that follow, including the money ones, are given to people who have already been set free.

Exodus 20:3 (WEB)

“You shall have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3 · World English Bible, public domain

No other gods. The verse names no particular rival. Jesus later names money (Mammon) as a master that competes with God for a person's service (Matthew 6:24), which is why money teaching often starts here.

Exodus 20:4-6 (WEB)

4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:4-6 · World English Bible, public domain

No idol, made to bow down to or serve. The command is about worship. Treating money or possessions as something to bow to is an application many readers draw, not the verse's own subject.

Exodus 20:7 (WEB)

“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Exodus 20:7 · World English Bible, public domain

Taking God's name in vain. Many readers take this first as a ban on false oaths sworn in God's name, which Leviticus 19:12 states directly. Using God's name to sell a dishonest deal is a common application.

Exodus 20:8 (WEB)

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:8 · World English Bible, public domain

Remember the day and keep it holy: rest belongs to the same command as work. Christians differ on how this applies today (a Saturday rest, Sunday as the Lord's Day, or a rest fulfilled in Christ; compare Colossians 2:16-17 and Romans 14:5-6), and this page does not settle that.

Exodus 20:9 (WEB)

You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
Exodus 20:9 · World English Bible, public domain

The command includes six days of labor, not only one of rest.

Exodus 20:10-11 (WEB)

10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; 11for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
Exodus 20:10-11 · World English Bible, public domain

The rest covers son, daughter, male and female servants, livestock, and the stranger within the gates, not only the head of the house. Many readers draw from this that rest should reach the people who work for us, not only the owner.

Exodus 20:12 (WEB)

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
Exodus 20:12 · World English Bible, public domain

Honor father and mother. Jesus applies this to money in Mark 7:9-13, where a gift declared for God was used as an excuse to stop supporting parents.

Exodus 20:13 (WEB)

“You shall not murder.
Exodus 20:13 · World English Bible, public domain

You shall not murder. This is not a money law; it is printed so the ten stay the ten. When readers apply it to money, it is to say that no profit is worth a human life.

Exodus 20:14 (WEB)

“You shall not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:14 · World English Bible, public domain

Faithfulness in marriage. This is not a money law; it is printed so the ten stay the ten.

Exodus 20:16 (WEB)

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Exodus 20:16 · World English Bible, public domain

No false testimony against a neighbor. The setting is a witness in court, so a false witness paid for in a lawsuit breaks it directly. A fake review or a dishonest reference is a close application.

Exodus 20:17 (WEB)

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Exodus 20:17 · World English Bible, public domain

The only commandment that legislates an interior desire. Many readers see it as the direct opposite of much advertising.

Deuteronomy 5:21 (WEB)

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Deuteronomy 5:21 · World English Bible, public domain

Weights, oaths, bribes, and wages

These are the commands the prophets keep returning to when they name a crooked market. Withheld wages are printed again on the relationships page, under workers, masters, and wages.

Leviticus 19:11 (WEB)

“‘You shall not steal. “‘You shall not lie. “‘You shall not deceive one another.
Leviticus 19:11 · World English Bible, public domain

Leviticus 19:12 (WEB)

“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
Leviticus 19:12 · World English Bible, public domain

Do not swear falsely by God's name. This is the command about God's name applied to oaths. A promise made in God's name to close a deal, then broken, is a close modern case.

Leviticus 19:13 (WEB)

“‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
Leviticus 19:13 · World English Bible, public domain

Do not hold a laborer's wages overnight.

Leviticus 19:35-36 (WEB)

35“‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. 36You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:35-36 · World English Bible, public domain

Just weights and measures - honest units are a command.

Proverbs 11:1 (WEB)

A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight.
Proverbs 11:1 · World English Bible, public domain

A rigged scale is called an abomination. Strongest possible language about commercial fraud.

Proverbs 20:10 (WEB)

Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
Proverbs 20:10 · World English Bible, public domain

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (WEB)

13You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. 14You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. 15You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 16For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16 · World English Bible, public domain

Exodus 23:8 (WEB)

“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
Exodus 23:8 · World English Bible, public domain

No bribe, because a bribe blinds people who can see and twists the words of the righteous. The setting is justice in court. A kickback, or a gift that buys any decision, is the same act in business.

Proverbs 17:23 (WEB)

A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.
Proverbs 17:23 · World English Bible, public domain

The proverb pictures a bribe changing hands in secret to bend justice. Pair it with Exodus 23:8.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (WEB)

14You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates. 15In his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.
Deuteronomy 24:14-15 · World English Bible, public domain

Same-day pay for the poor worker, because they depend on it. Payroll as a justice issue.

Malachi 3:5 (WEB)

I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
Malachi 3:5 · World English Bible, public domain

Wage theft listed alongside sorcery and adultery in the judgment catalog.

Jeremiah 22:13 (WEB)

“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;
Jeremiah 22:13 · World English Bible, public domain

Amos 8:4-6 (WEB)

4Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 5Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 6that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”
Amos 8:4-6 · World English Bible, public domain

Shrinking the measure and inflating the price while exploiting the poor - and impatience for the sabbath to end so trade can resume.

Micah 6:10-12 (WEB)

10Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? 11Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.
Micah 6:10-12 · World English Bible, public domain

Luke 3:12-14 (WEB)

12Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?” 13He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.” 14Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”
Luke 3:12-14 · World English Bible, public domain

John's answer to tax collectors and soldiers: don't extort, don't overcharge, be content with your wages. Occupational ethics without changing occupation.

Gleaning, collateral, interest, and release

The Law does not leave the poor, the borrower, or the pledged cloak to the lender's discretion. Interest-free loans to a poor neighbor and the pledge rules are printed again with the lending passages.

Whether Israel's bans on interest apply to modern lending is debated among Christians. The interest and usury page sets out the views.

Leviticus 19:9-10 (WEB)

9“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.
Leviticus 19:9-10 · World English Bible, public domain

Gleaning: the harvest margin is deliberately left. A structural welfare design that preserves the dignity of work.

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 (WEB)

19When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.
Deuteronomy 24:19-22 · World English Bible, public domain

Deuteronomy 24:6 (WEB)

No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge; for he takes a life in pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:6 · World English Bible, public domain

No one may take a family's millstone as a pledge for a loan, because grinding grain is how they eat. The verse calls that taking a life in pledge. Collateral may not take away someone's means of living.

Deuteronomy 24:10-13 (WEB)

10When you lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge outside to you. 12If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. 13You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.
Deuteronomy 24:10-13 · World English Bible, public domain

The lender waits outside while the borrower brings the pledge out, and a poor borrower's garment comes back at sunset so they can sleep in it. Collateral has a dignity limit.

Exodus 22:25-27 (WEB)

25“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest. 26If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, 27for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
Exodus 22:25-27 · World English Bible, public domain

No interest to the poor; return the cloak taken as collateral by nightfall. Collateral limited by human dignity.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (WEB)

19You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. 20You may lend on interest to a foreigner; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 · World English Bible, public domain

Leviticus 25:35-38 (WEB)

35“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. 36Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you. 37You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
Leviticus 25:35-38 · World English Bible, public domain

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (WEB)

1At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. 2This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. 4However there shall be no poor with you (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it) 5if only you diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. 6For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand”; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. 10You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to. 11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 · World English Bible, public domain

Seven-year debt release, AND the command to lend generously anyway even as release approaches.

Leviticus 25:8-17 (WEB)

8“‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. 9Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. 13“‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14“‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. 16According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. 17You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God.
Leviticus 25:8-17 · World English Bible, public domain

Jubilee. Note v.14-16: prices were to be pro-rated by years remaining to jubilee - time value of money, legislated.

Verses often preached as money promises

These are printed here because people bring them to money questions. Read the warning under a verse before quoting the line as a plan. Luke 6:37 is printed because it is the sentence just before the giving verse that is often quoted alone.

Jeremiah 29:11 (WEB)

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 · World English Bible, public domain

Printed because it is the hope verse people most often bring to money questions. The hope is real, and it is not a financial plan.

1 Timothy 6:5 (WEB)

constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
1 Timothy 6:5 · World English Bible, public domain

Paul warns about people who suppose that godliness is a means of gain, and tells Timothy to withdraw from them. Religion used as a way to get money is the target.

3 John 2 (WEB)

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.
3 John 2 · World English Bible, public domain

A warm wish in the greeting of a letter. The wish is kind; the doctrine sometimes hung on it is not in the sentence.

Ecclesiastes 2:26 (WEB)

For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 · World English Bible, public domain

The sinner gathers and heaps up, and it ends with someone else. Read the warning below before using this verse to predict a transfer of wealth.

Matthew 6:10 (WEB)

Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
Matthew 6:10 · World English Bible, public domain

Your kingdom come, your will be done. The Lord's Prayer puts God's will ahead of the one praying: prayer here asks, it does not give God orders about next month's income.

Luke 6:37 (WEB)

Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free.
Luke 6:37 · World English Bible, public domain

Don't judge, don't condemn, set free. This is the sentence just before 'give, and it will be given to you' (verse 38). The setting of verse 38 is mercy and judgment, which is why it reads poorly as a promise of financial return.

Luke 6:38 (WEB)

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:38 · World English Bible, public domain