The Bible covers many moral and ethical topics that continue to influence human conduct and values. Stealing is one of these essential subjects. This is because it undermines the social fabric of respect, integrity, and trust. The Scriptures contain instructions on how to live an honest and moral life as well as significant insights about the repercussions of stealing.
In our study of “Bible Verses about Stealing,” we explore the enduring knowledge provided by the Bible to comprehend the lessons it teaches and the values it defends.
List of Bible Verses About Stealing
Exodus 20:15
“Thou Shalt Not Steal”
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Leviticus 19:11
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.”
Proverbs 6:30-31
“People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.”
Proverbs 11:1
“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”
Proverbs 28:24
“Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, ‘That is no transgression,’ is a companion to a man who destroys.”
Matthew 19:18
“He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness.'”
Mark 10:19
“You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'”
Luke 3:14
“Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.'”
Luke 19:8-9
“And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.'”
Romans 2:21-22
“You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”
Romans 13:9
“For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Ephesians 4:28
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
1 Thessalonians 4:6
“That no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.”
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James 4:17
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Revelation 9:21
“Nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Exodus 22:1
“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”
Exodus 22:7
“If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.”
Leviticus 6:4-5
“If he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.”
Deuteronomy 5:19
“You shall not steal.”
Deuteronomy 23:24-25
“If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag.”
Psalm 37:21
“The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.”
Proverbs 20:17
“Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.”
Proverbs 29:24
“The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.”
Isaiah 61:8
“For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong.”
Jeremiah 7:9-11
“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?”
Zechariah 5:3-4
“Then he said to me, ‘This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side.'”
Malachi 3:8
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.”
Matthew 6:19-20
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Luke 12:15
“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'”
John 10:10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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1 Corinthians 5:11
“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
Colossians 3:9
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”
1 Timothy 6:6-10
“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Hebrews 13:5
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”
James 2:11
“For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”
Revelation 21:8
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Exodus 21:16
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”
Proverbs 21:6
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.”
Jeremiah 2:26-27
“As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us!'”
Hosea 4:1-2
“Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.”
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Zechariah 7:9-10
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.'”
Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”
Matthew 15:19
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
Mark 14:11
“Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.”
Luke 16:10-12
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”
John 12:6
“He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.”
Romans 13:8-10
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Ephesians 4:28
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
1 Timothy 6:17-19
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
1 Peter 4:15
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.”
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Revelation 9:20-21
“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”
Leviticus 6:2-5
“If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.”
Proverbs 12:22
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.”
Proverbs 21:28
“A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure.”
Colossians 3:9-10
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Revelation 22:15
“Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
Conclusion
The verses we’ve read emphasize the value of honesty, sympathy, and regard for other people’s property and way of life. These timeless lessons can act as points of reference as we navigate the intricacies of modern life, reminding us of the value of moral behavior and the maintenance of trust in our communities. By taking these verses’ lessons to heart, we not only respect the Bible’s doctrines but also help to create a more just, compassionate, and peaceful society.