Bible verses about money appear far more often than many readers expect. Jesus spoke about wealth, debt, giving and possessions in parable after parable, and the prophets and apostles spoke to it as well. Money touches daily life, so Scripture treats it as a matter of the heart and not just the wallet.
This collection gathers Bible verses about money from both Testaments and sets them in context. Along the way you will find what the word “mammon” means, why the famous line in 1 Timothy is so often misquoted, how the Law of Moses protected the poor, and why the early church shared so freely.
The goal here is understanding. If you are looking for guidance on budgeting or a tight month, the companion page of practical Bible verses for money decisions is written for that purpose.
Every verse below is quoted word for word from the King James Version, with the reference under each passage.
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (KJV)
Moses warned Israel that prosperity could breed pride. Among Bible verses about money, this one sets the foundation: the ability to earn is itself a gift from God.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)
Paul names the love of money, not money itself, as a root of all kinds of evil. The warning is about desire that pulls people away from the faith.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24 (KJV)
In one of the sharpest Bible verses about money, Jesus uses the Aramaic word mammon for wealth treated as a master. No one can give undivided loyalty to two lords.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 (KJV)
Earthly wealth can rust or be stolen, but treasure in heaven lasts. Where a person invests reveals what that person loves.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 (KJV)
Among Bible verses about money, this one rests contentment on a promise, not a balance. God’s presence is the reason a believer can live free of covetousness.
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (KJV)
Few Bible verses about money are as candid: the Preacher observes that loving silver never produces enough of it. Desire keeps moving the finish line.
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10 (KJV)
Israel honored God with the firstfruits of the harvest. Giving came first, before the barns were counted.
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)
Some Bible verses about money are plain observations, and this one is about power: debt places the borrower under the lender. Wisdom takes that reality seriously.
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Proverbs 30:8-9 (KJV)
Agur asks for neither poverty nor riches, knowing each carries its own temptation. It is one of the most balanced Bible verses about money in the Old Testament.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Malachi 3:10 (KJV)
God invited a struggling nation to bring the whole tithe to the storehouse. The verse addresses Israel’s covenant worship in Malachi’s day.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luke 12:15 (KJV)
Jesus introduces the parable of the rich fool with one of the clearest Bible verses about money and greed. A life is measured by far more than what a person owns.
And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mark 10:23-25 (KJV)
After the rich young ruler walked away, Jesus spoke of the camel and the needle’s eye. The disciples were astonished because they assumed wealth signaled God’s favor.
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Mark 12:41-44 (KJV)
The widow gave two mites, all she had. Of all the Bible verses about money and giving, this one shows Jesus measuring the gift by what remained, not by its size.
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luke 16:10-11 (KJV)
In these Bible verses about money, faithfulness with small, earthly riches is training for true riches. Money becomes a test of trustworthiness.
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (KJV)
Paul encourages generous, willing giving for the relief of believers in Jerusalem. God loves a cheerful giver, not a pressured one.
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:35 (KJV)
Paul reminds the Ephesian elders of a saying of the Lord Jesus. Working to help the weak is a blessing greater than receiving.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (KJV)
These Bible verses about money speak directly to the wealthy. Trust God rather than uncertain riches, and be rich in good works.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Philippians 4:11-12 (KJV)
This closes the list of Bible verses about money with Paul, who learned contentment in both hunger and abundance. His peace did not depend on his circumstances.
The first thing to notice in the Bible verses about money is that Scripture does not treat wealth as evil in itself. Abraham was “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2). Job was wealthy, and so were Boaz and Joseph of Arimathea. Deuteronomy 8:18 says it is God who gives the power to get wealth.
Yet the same passage carries a warning. When Israel became prosperous, it would be tempted to say, “My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.” Money is a gift, but it is also a test. It can lead to gratitude and generosity, or to pride and forgetfulness of God.
This is why many of these passages are really verses about trusting God rather than possessions. The question is rarely how much a person owns. The question is what that person leans on.
Perhaps the most quoted of all Bible verses about money is also the most misquoted. People often say “money is the root of all evil,” but 1 Timothy 6:10 says “the love of money is the root of all evil.” The difference matters. Paul is diagnosing desire, not condemning coins.
Many scholars note that the Greek can be read as “a root of all kinds of evil,” and some modern translations render it that way. Paul adds that some “have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” You can read the whole chapter at 1 Timothy 6 on Bible Gateway.
As with the others, the context is worth noticing. Paul was addressing false teachers who treated godliness as a way to get rich (verse 5). His answer is striking: “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Later in the same chapter he does not tell wealthy believers to become poor. He tells them to stop trusting riches and to be “ready to distribute, willing to communicate.”
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” The word mammon comes from Aramaic and simply meant wealth or property. Jesus, however, gives it a personal edge by setting it beside God as a rival master. The Greek term and its uses are listed in the Blue Letter Bible lexicon entry for mammon.
As in several Gospel sayings on wealth, Jesus draws the picture from a household servant. A slave in the ancient world could not split loyalty between two owners, because each would make total claims. Jesus is not saying a disciple can never handle money. He is saying money makes a poor master and must never sit on the throne of the heart.
Luke 16 uses the same word in the parable of the unjust steward, where Jesus says to “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” A common interpretation is that believers should use temporary wealth for lasting good, especially by caring for people. The commentaries on Luke 16:9 at Bible Hub show how varied the explanations are.
The Law of Moses shaped Israel’s economy around worship and care for neighbors. Israelites brought firstfruits and tithes to support the Levites, the priests and the festivals (Numbers 18:21; Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Every third year the tithe was also shared with the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
The law built in protections for the vulnerable. Fields were not to be harvested to the edges so the poor could glean (Leviticus 19:9-10). Debts were released every seventh year (Deuteronomy 15:1-2). In the year of jubilee, family land returned to its original households (Leviticus 25:10). These Old Testament Bible verses about money reveal a God who cares that no family is permanently crushed.
Christians disagree about how tithing applies today. Some churches teach the tenth as a continuing standard, citing Malachi 3:10 and Abraham’s tithe before the Law. Others see the tithe as part of the old covenant and emphasize the New Testament pattern of generous, proportional giving. Britannica’s overview of the tithe traces how the practice developed in church history.
Proverbs contains more Bible verses about money than any other Old Testament book, and it is full of practical observations. Wealth gotten by vanity diminishes, but steady labor increases it (Proverbs 13:11). The borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). These are general patterns of life under God, not ironclad guarantees, and the book itself admits that the wicked sometimes prosper for a time.
Proverbs also insists that some things are worth more than gold. “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith” (Proverbs 15:16). A good name is “rather to be chosen than great riches” (Proverbs 22:1). The book’s praise of godly wisdom above silver frames all its money advice.
Ecclesiastes adds a sobering note to the counsel found in Proverbs. The Preacher tried wealth, projects and pleasure, and found them “vanity and vexation of spirit” when pursued for their own sake. He noticed that abundance can even steal sleep (Ecclesiastes 5:12). His conclusion is not despair but enjoyment of God’s gifts with a grateful, God-fearing heart.
Several Bible verses about money deal with lending. The Law told Israelites not to charge interest, called usury in the KJV, to a poor fellow Israelite (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37). Loans among neighbors were meant as help, not as a way to profit from another person’s trouble.
These lending texts do not forbid all borrowing, but they treat debt realistically. Proverbs warns repeatedly against becoming surety, that is, guaranteeing someone else’s loan (Proverbs 6:1-5). Paul’s instruction to “owe no man any thing, but to love one another” (Romans 13:8) is read by some as a call to avoid debt entirely and by others as a call to pay what is owed promptly.
For readers wanting a deeper look at thrift and planning, the page on what Scripture teaches about saving money explores Joseph’s storehouses in Egypt and the ant in Proverbs 6.
The Gospels record several encounters that shape how Christians read Bible verses about money. The first is the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-27). He kept the commandments but walked away sorrowful when Jesus told him to sell everything and follow. Jesus then said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
The disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answered that with God all things are possible. The saying is a deliberate exaggeration showing that salvation is God’s work, not something wealth can buy.
The second story is the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, who built bigger barns and died that night. The third is Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10, a wealthy tax collector who gave half his goods to the poor and repaid fourfold anyone he had cheated. Wealth itself did not keep him from Christ, and grace that changes a greedy heart set him free.
In Mark 12:41-44 Jesus sat near the temple treasury watching people give. Then, in a scene that anchors many Bible verses about money, a poor widow put in two mites, the smallest coins in circulation. Jesus called His disciples and said she had given more than all of them, because they gave from abundance and she gave “all that she had, even all her living.”
This scene changes how the teaching on giving should be read. God does not measure gifts the way a ledger does. He looks at the cost to the giver and the faith behind the gift. The widow trusted God with her next meal.
The New Testament Bible verses about money take a striking turn in Acts. The first believers in Jerusalem “had all things common” and sold possessions to meet needs, so that there was not “any among them that lacked” (Acts 4:32-35). Peter told Ananias the land had been his to keep; his sin was lying about the gift (Acts 5:4).
Paul’s letters add more on the subject through the collection he organized among Gentile churches for poor believers in Judea. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 he appeals to the example of Christ, “that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” Giving flows from the gospel. It is to be willing, proportional to what one has, and cheerful rather than forced.
Behind this generosity stands the command to love one another in deed and in truth. John asks how the love of God can dwell in someone who sees a brother in need and shuts up compassion (1 John 3:17). In the New Testament, money is one of the plainest places where love becomes visible.
A thread running through many Bible verses about money is contentment. Paul wrote from prison that he had learned to be content “in whatsoever state I am” (Philippians 4:11). Hebrews 13:5 ties contentment to God’s promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Agur’s prayer in Proverbs 30 asks simply for daily bread.
The Bible verses about money in the Sermon on the Mount connect money and anxiety directly. Right after warning about two masters, Jesus tells His hearers to “take no thought” for food and clothing, pointing to birds and lilies that the Father cares for (Matthew 6:25-34). The teaching is not a promise of luxury but an invitation to seek God’s kingdom first. The page on Bible verses about worrying about money studies this passage in more depth.
Because Bible verses about money are so often quoted in isolation, a few misreadings are common. The table below compares popular claims with what the passages actually say.
| Common claim | What Scripture says |
|---|---|
| Money is the root of all evil. | The love of money is the root (1 Timothy 6:10). |
| Faithful people will always become wealthy. | The righteous sometimes suffer want, and Jesus Himself had nowhere to lay His head (Luke 9:58). |
| Poverty is automatically holier. | Proverbs 30:8-9 sees temptation in both poverty and riches. |
| Giving guarantees a financial return. | Harvest language in 2 Corinthians 9 speaks of sufficiency for good works, not personal profit. |
Christian traditions read these Bible verses about money with different emphases. Some stress God’s blessing on work and stewardship, while others stress simplicity and radical giving. Most agree on the core: God owns everything, people are stewards, and the heart’s loyalty belongs to Him alone. Holding these truths together brings peace that money cannot buy.
From Deuteronomy to the letters of Paul, the Bible verses about money tell one consistent story. God provides, money is a trust, and the heart can follow either God or wealth, never both. Generosity, contentment and justice mark those who have learned where their true treasure is.
If you want to keep studying, the guide to Bible verses for saving money offers another angle, and the collection of Bible verses about hope points to the lasting riches God promises.
Genesis 41 is one of the most practical money chapters in Scripture, and it rarely gets treated that way. Pharaoh dreams of lean cows eating fat ones, and Joseph, fresh out of prison, does not stop at interpreting the dream. He offers a plan. Store a fifth of the harvest during the seven good years, he says, “that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine” (Genesis 41:36). Notice what Joseph is not saying. He is not telling Egypt to spend freely because God will provide, and he is not telling them to hoard in fear either. He is describing saving with a purpose and an end date.
Think about the families who lived through that. A farmer who grew up on good harvests would have felt foolish handing over grain that looked like surplus. Seven years later, that same grain was the difference between a household surviving and a household selling its land. The chapter later shows the cost of the crisis, with people trading livestock and fields for bread, so Genesis does not pretend that famine is painless. What it shows is that wise people look at a good season and ask what the next one might demand. Anyone who has watched a car repair or a layoff swallow a whole year of plans knows how this feels at an ordinary kitchen table. Joseph’s storehouses were enormous, but the habit behind them is small enough for any household: set something aside while there is something to set aside, and keep it for the lean stretch, not for the first sale sign.
The story in 2 Kings 4 begins with a funeral and a creditor. A prophet’s widow comes to Elisha with her husband dead and her two sons about to be taken as payment for what he owed. Elisha asks a plain question: what do you have in the house? Her answer is almost embarrassing. “Thy handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil” (2 Kings 4:2). That small jar becomes the starting point. She is told to borrow empty vessels from her neighbours, shut the door, and pour. The oil keeps flowing until the last container is full.
Two details deserve attention. First, the miracle is tied to a real obligation. Elisha finishes with a practical instruction: “Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest” (2 Kings 4:7). The debt is paid, not ignored, and the leftover is meant to keep the family going. Second, she had to ask her neighbours for help and then do the work of selling. God’s provision here passes through borrowed jars, a closed door and a market stall. Nobody should read the story as a promise that every debt will vanish overnight, and nobody should feel ashamed for being the person with only a pot of oil. It does show that God notices a household pressed by creditors, and that He often starts with whatever small thing is already sitting in the cupboard. If you are drowning in bills, say so to someone who can help, whether that is a church deacon or a nonprofit credit counselor.
When Paul arrived in Corinth he did not go looking for a pulpit first. He went looking for work. He found Aquila and Priscilla, “and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers” (Acts 18:3). Tents were stitched from goat-hair cloth or leather, which meant long hours, rough hands and a smell Paul carried into every synagogue debate. Later he reminded the Thessalonians that he had worked night and day so as not to burden anyone. His ministry was real, and so was his payroll problem, and he solved it with a needle.
That bench shapes how Paul writes about earning. He tells the same church, “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10), a sentence aimed at able people who had stopped contributing, not at those who could not work. To the Ephesians he gives a purpose for labour that goes past paying rent: “let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28). Read together, these lines treat a paycheck as more than private property. It covers your own needs, and then it leaves something over for another person’s. A man who once stole is told to become a man who gives, and the road between the two is honest work. For anyone grinding through a job they don’t love, that is a quiet dignity worth holding on to.
Some evenings the budget does not fit on the page, and the numbers look worse the longer you stare at them. If that is where you are tonight, try praying with the spreadsheet open instead of closing it. Something like this might be a start. Lord, You know what is in this account and what is due on the first. I am tired of pretending I have it handled. Show me where I have been careless, and where I have simply been unlucky, and help me tell the difference without punishing myself. Give me the nerve to open the envelope I have been avoiding.
Teach me to hold what I have loosely enough that I can still give, and firmly enough that I do not waste it. Where I owe, help me pay honestly. Where I am owed, help me be patient. Where I envy my neighbour’s new truck, loosen that grip, and remind me that You fed Israel one morning at a time. Put a wise person in my path, a counselor or a friend who knows more than I do about interest rates and insurance. And whatever this month holds, keep my heart from deciding that I am worth only what I earn. Amen. Prayer is not a payment plan, and it does not replace a conversation with a lender or a financial adviser. It simply places the whole matter, numbers and nerves together, in the hands of the One who cares about the household behind the budget.
Nearby topics worth a look: Bible Verses About Worrying About Money, Bible Verses About Money and Greed, Bible Verses About Money Blessings, Bible Verses For Saving Money and Bible Verses About Saving Money.
If you want to dig further, Blue Letter Bible, Bible Gateway and Bible Hub are good places to start.
Key passages include 1 Timothy 6:10 on the love of money, Matthew 6:24 on serving two masters, Hebrews 13:5 on contentment, and Luke 12:15 on covetousness.
No. The Bible warns that riches can become a snare, and 1 Timothy 6:17-19 tells the rich to trust God, do good and share generously rather than trusting uncertain wealth.
Traditions differ. Some churches teach the tithe as an ongoing standard, while others see it as part of the Mosaic covenant and emphasize free, generous giving from 2 Corinthians 9. Both views take giving seriously.
Mammon is an Aramaic word for wealth or possessions. Jesus uses it in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16 to picture money as a rival master competing with God for a person’s trust and service.
Proverbs 30:8-9 offers a model prayer: ask for daily provision and a heart kept from both pride and desperation. The page on Bible verses about prayer gives more passages to guide honest requests.
