playing the lottery

¹¹Substance obtained in haste will be diminished. But what is collected by hand, little by little, shall be multiplied.

⁵Let your behavior be without avarice; be content with what you are offered. For he himself has said, “I will not abandon you, and I will not neglect you.”

²⁴No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will have hatred for the one, and love the other, or he will persevere with the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

¹⁰For desire is the root of all evils. Some persons, hungering in this way, have strayed from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.

¹⁷Whoever is merciful to the poor lends to the Lord. And he will repay him for his efforts.

¹⁷Instruct the wealthy of this age not to have a superior attitude, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who offers us everything in abundance to enjoy, ¹⁸and to do good, to become rich in good works, to donate readily, to share, ¹⁹to gather for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may obtain true life.

¹⁰Where there are many riches, there will also be many to consume these things. And how does it benefit the one who possesses, except that he discerns the wealth with his own eyes?

⁶But piety with sufficiency is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we can take nothing away. ⁸But, having nourishment and some kind of covering, we should be content with these. ⁹For those who want to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and harmful desires, which submerge men in destruction and in perdition. ¹⁰For desire is the root of all evils. Some persons, hungering in this way, have strayed from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.

¹⁰Just as each of you has received grace, minister in the same way to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

¹⁰Then, too, while we were with you, we insisted on this to you: that if anyone was not willing to work, neither should he eat.

⁹Do you not know that the iniquitous will not possess the kingdom of God? Do not choose to wander astray. For neither fornicators, nor servants of idolatry, nor adulterers,

³³Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you as well.

²⁰A faithful man shall be greatly praised. But whoever rushes to become rich will not be innocent.

³⁵So truly, love your enemies. Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked.

¹⁰nor the effeminate, nor males who sleep with males, nor thieves, nor the avaricious, nor the inebriated, nor slanderers, nor the rapacious shall possess the kingdom of God.

²²Abstain from every kind of evil.

¹⁴For it is like a man setting out on a long journey, who called his servants and delivered to them his goods. ¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, yet to another he gave one, to each according to his own ability. And promptly, he set out. ¹⁶Then he who had received five talents went out, and he made use of these, and he gained another five. ¹⁷And similarly, he who had received two gained another two. ¹⁸But he who had received one, going out, dug into the earth, and he hid the money of his lord. ¹⁹Yet truly, after a long time, the lord of those servants returned and he settled accounts with them.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

⁶But I say this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows with blessings shall also reap from blessings:

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