Honest Merchant Weighs Barley for a WidowBible World
20:23Proverbs 20:23
Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
Divers weights and false balances, including unequal weights and dishonest measures, are detestable and abhorrent to the Lord. The verse requires honesty in all dealing, meaning every transaction must be just and truthful, with no defrauding a neighbor, no stealing, no dealing falsely, no lying to one another, and no unrighteousness in judgment, in measure, in balance, or in weight. In buying and selling this demands fair dealing and forbids deceiving or misleading others for profit or gain.
The warning applies specifically to selling property, including real estate, where it forbids exaggerating benefits or otherwise misleading buyers to make money, condemning a deceitful way of doing business that has become common. Those engaged in such business must cut loose from and abandon deceitful dealing before they can be considered as healthful branches of the church. Professing to keep God's commandments does not excuse cheating for gain, and faithfulness in even small transactions reveals character and spiritual and religious integrity. God sees and records dishonest acts, and gain obtained by deceit brings condemnation rather than blessing.
Divers weights and false balances, including unequal weights and dishonest measures, are detestable and abhorrent to the Lord. The verse requires honesty in all dealing, meaning every transaction must be just and truthful, with no defrauding a neighbor, no stealing, no dealing falsely, no lying to one another, and no unrighteousness in judgment, in measure, in balance, or in weight. In buying and selling this demands fair dealing and forbids deceiving or misleading others for profit or gain.
The warning applies specifically to selling property, including real estate, where it forbids exaggerating benefits or otherwise misleading buyers to make money, condemning a deceitful way of doing business that has become common. Those engaged in such business must cut loose from and abandon deceitful dealing before they can be considered as healthful branches of the church. Professing to keep God's commandments does not excuse cheating for gain, and faithfulness in even small transactions reveals character and spiritual and religious integrity. God sees and records dishonest acts, and gain obtained by deceit brings condemnation rather than blessing.