Cheating

Cheating is condemned

Leviticus 6:1–5 See also 1 Corinthians 6:7–8; 1 Thessalonians 4:6

And the LORD said to Moses, “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit— once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or anything else about which he has sworn falsely. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value, and pay it to the owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.

Examples of cheating

Not paying fair wages

Genesis 31:6–9; James 5:4

Using dishonest weights or scales

Deuteronomy 25:13–16; Hosea 12:7–8; Amos 8:5

Charging excess taxes

Luke 19:8

Offering blemished animals for sacrifice

Malachi 1:12–14

Moving boundary stones

Deuteronomy 19:14, Deuteronomy 27:17

Samuel as an example of someone who did not cheat

1 Samuel 12:3–4