Worldliness
96 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
10 sections
Balaam
- 2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- Jude 11 Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
- Numbers 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Numbers 23:1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.”
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.
Cretans
- Titus 1:12 As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Eli's Sons
- 1 Samuel 2:12–17 Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD …
Esau
- Genesis 25:30–34 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.) …
- Hebrews 12:16 See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.
Gehazi
- 2 Kings 5:21–27 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” …
General Scriptures Concerning
- 1 Samuel 8:19–20 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. …
- Job 20:4–29 Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth, …
- Job 21:11–15 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, …
- Psalm 49:16–18 Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. …
- Psalm 73:2–22 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. …
- Proverbs 14:12–13 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. …
- Proverbs 15:21 Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.
- Proverbs 21:17 He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.
- Proverbs 23:20–21 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. …
- Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
- Proverbs 27:7 The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:1–12 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile. …
- Ecclesiastes 6:11–12 For the more words, the more futility — and how does that profit anyone? …
- Ecclesiastes 8:15–17 So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. …
- Ecclesiastes 10:19 A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.
- Ecclesiastes 11:9–10 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. …
- Isaiah 22:12–13 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. …
- Isaiah 24:7–11 The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. …
- Isaiah 28:4 The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.
- Isaiah 32:9–11 Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. …
- Isaiah 47:7–9 You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome. …
- Hosea 9:1 Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
- Hosea 9:11 Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.
- Hosea 9:13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter.
- Amos 6:3–7 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. …
- Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
- Micah 2:10 Arise and depart, for this is not your place of rest, because its defilement brings destruction— a grievous destruction!
- Micah 6:14 You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.
- Haggai 1:6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
- Matthew 6:25–34 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? …
- Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
- Matthew 13:22 The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- Matthew 16:25–26 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. …
- Matthew 18:1–4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” …
- Matthew 22:2–6 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. …
- Matthew 24:38–39 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. …
- Mark 4:19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- Mark 8:35–37 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. …
- Mark 9:33–36 Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” …
- Luke 8:14 The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
- Luke 9:46–48 Then an argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. …
- Luke 12:19 Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Luke 14:17–24 When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ …
- Luke 16:1–13 Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. …
- Luke 16:19–25 Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. …
- Luke 17:26–29 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: …
- Luke 17:33 Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life — and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- John 5:44 How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- John 12:25 Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- John 12:43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
- John 15:19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
- Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
- 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; …
- 1 Corinthians 10:6 These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.
- 1 Corinthians 15:32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
- Philippians 3:18–19 For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. …
- Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
- Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- 1 Timothy 5:6 But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.
- 2 Timothy 2:4 A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.
- 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- 2 Timothy 3:2–7 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, …
- Titus 2:12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures — living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Hebrews 11:24–26 By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. …
- James 2:1–4 My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. …
- James 4:4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- James 4:9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
- James 5:5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.
- 1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- 1 Peter 1:24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- 1 Peter 4:3–4 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. …
- 2 Peter 2:12–15 These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. …
- 2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- 1 John 2:15–17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. …
- Jude 11–13 Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. …
- Jude 16 These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
- Jude 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.
Herod Antipas
- Matthew 14:6–7 On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod …
Israelites
- Numbers 11:33–34 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague. …
- Psalm 78:18 They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
- Psalm 78:29–31 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved. …
Jacob
- Genesis 25:31–34 “First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied. …
- Genesis 27:36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
- Genesis 30:37–43 Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. …
Judah
- Genesis 37:26–27 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? …
Related topics
PleasureThe Punishment of the Wicked in This Life by Put in Slippery PlacesGluttonyAmusements and Worldly PleasuresCovetousness
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.