25 Bible Verses About Careers (NIV)

³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

²⁸ "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?

²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.

²² A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.

⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. ⁷ If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; ⁸ if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

¹ Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. ² Some were saying, "We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain." ³ Others were saying, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine." ⁴ Still others were saying, "We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others." ⁶ When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. ⁷ I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!" So I called together a large meeting to deal with them ⁸ and said: "As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say. ⁹ So I continued, "What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them-the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine and oil." ¹² "We will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say." Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!" At this the whole assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. ¹⁴ Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year-twelve years-neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ But the earlier governors-those preceding me-placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. ¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land. ¹⁷ Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸ Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people. ¹⁹ Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.

¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

³ By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

²⁰ In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

⁹ One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

²³ All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

¹⁸ One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."

¹ Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her ³ and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land"; ⁴ and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh." ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. ⁶ Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons." ⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them. ⁹ Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." ¹² Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God. ¹³ The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" ¹⁵ Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws." ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people-men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." ²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²⁶ They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

⁴ young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.

⁵ With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.

¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

⁷ The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. ² Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all. ³ A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. ⁴ Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life. ⁵ In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. ⁶ Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ⁷ The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. ⁸ He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed. ⁹ A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. ¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended. ¹¹ He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend. ¹² The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful. ¹³ The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!" ¹⁴ The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the LORD's wrath will fall into it. ¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. ¹⁶ He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty. ¹⁷ Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, ¹⁸ for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. ¹⁹ So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you. ²⁰ Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, ²¹ teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you? ²² Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, ²³ for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them. ²⁴ Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, ²⁵ or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared. ²⁶ Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; ²⁷ if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. ²⁸ Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers. ²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.

¹¹ He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.