Bible Verses About Unemployment

“If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.”

“And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.”

“And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

“I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”

“Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?”

“For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being busybodies.”

“Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.”

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked. ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius. On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

“I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment. Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down. I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.”

“He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.”

“Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.”

“There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

“I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.”

“You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.”

“However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

“Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.”

“Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.”

“The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.”

“A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.”

“This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work. Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.”