Business

Business is the buying, selling, and making of goods and services. God requires honest weights and measures, fair dealing, and diligence in work.

Honest scales

• Proverbs 11:1
  A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
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• Proverbs 16:11
  A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
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• Proverbs 20:10
  Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.Differing weights and unequal measures— both are detestable to the LORD.
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• Leviticus 19:35-36
  ³⁵Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. ³⁶Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
  Show context · Read Leviticus 19 →
• Deuteronomy 25:13-16
  ¹³Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. ¹⁴Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small. ¹⁵But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. ¹⁶For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.
  Show context · Read Deuteronomy 25 →

Fair dealing

• Leviticus 25:14
  And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
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• 1 Thessalonians 4:6
  That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
  Show context · Read 1 Thessalonians 4 →
• Amos 8:4-6
  ⁴Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, ⁵Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. ⁶That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
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• Proverbs 20:14
  It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.“Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer, but on the way out, he gloats.
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Diligence

• Proverbs 22:29
  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
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• Proverbs 10:4
  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
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• Proverbs 27:23-24
  ²³Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds; ²⁴For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
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• Romans 12:11
  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
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Planning and counsel

• Proverbs 21:5
  The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.
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• Proverbs 15:22
  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
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• Luke 14:28-30
  ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? ²⁹Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’
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• James 4:13-15
  ¹³Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” ¹⁴Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
  Show context · Read James 4 →

A capable trader

• Proverbs 31:16-18
  ¹⁶She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.She girds herself with strength and shows that her arms are strong. ¹⁸She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.She sees that her gain is good, and her lamp is not extinguished at night.
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• Proverbs 31:24
  She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants.
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• Matthew 25:16-21
  ¹⁶Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more. ¹⁷And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them. ²⁰And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ ²¹His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’
  Show context · Read Matthew 25 →
• Acts 16:14
  And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
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See also

• Work
• Money
• Cheating
• Employers and employees
• Integrity

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.