Wages
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· 9 viewsPayment by an employer for work done; all labourers should be paid fairly and regularly.
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Laws relating to wages:
Laws relating to wages:
Payment should be made regularly
Payment should be made regularly
“You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
See also Le 19:13
Regular rates of pay
Regular rates of pay
Le 25:50; Mk 6:37; Mk 14:5
Labourers should not be defrauded
Labourers should not be defrauded
Mal 3:5; Jas 5:4
See also Je 22:13
A fair wage should be paid
A fair wage should be paid
Mt 20:2–4 A normal day’s pay for a labourer in NT times was one denarius.
See also Col 4:1
A fair day’s work should be done
A fair day’s work should be done
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
See also Eph 6:7–8; Col 3:23
Labourers should be content with a fair wage
Labourers should be content with a fair wage
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.”
Wage earners suffer in times of trouble
Wage earners suffer in times of trouble
Egypt under judgment
Egypt under judgment
Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who work for pay will be grieved.
Jerusalem under judgment
Jerusalem under judgment
You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
See also Zec 8:10
The world under judgment
The world under judgment
And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
The example of Jacob as a wage earner
The example of Jacob as a wage earner
Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.
See also Ge 29:15 He agreed his wages beforehand; Ge 29:18 He was paid in kind; Ge 29:25–27 He was cheated by Laban; Ge 30:28–34 He makes an arrangement he can turn to advantage; Ge 31:6–7 He accuses Laban of dishonesty; Ge 31:8–9 He protests his own honesty; Ge 31:38–42 He looks back on his experience.
The wages of God’s servants
The wages of God’s servants
The Levites
The Levites
Nu 18:30–31; Ne 12:44; Ne 13:10–13
Temple workers
Temple workers
1 Ki 5:6; 2 Ki 12:11–15; 2 Ki 22:3–7; 2 Ki 22:9
Zechariah’s derisory pay
Zechariah’s derisory pay
Zec 11:12–13; Mt 27:3–10
Labourers in the parable of the workers in the vineyard
Labourers in the parable of the workers in the vineyard
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Ministers of the gospel
Ministers of the gospel
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
See also Dt 25:4; Lk 10:7; Jn 4:36–38; 1 Co 9:7–14; Ga 6:6
The apostle Paul
The apostle Paul
It was Paul’s choice to work freely:
It was Paul’s choice to work freely:
1 Co 9:15; 2 Co 11:7–9
Php 4:18 He expressed gratitude for gifts he received.
Spiritual lessons from wages
Spiritual lessons from wages
Life’s rewards are hard-earned
Life’s rewards are hard-earned
Job 7:1–3; Ga 6:7–10
The wages of sin
The wages of sin
But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
See also Job 15:31–32; Is 65:7; Je 51:6; 2 Pe 2:13
The freeness of God’s grace
The freeness of God’s grace
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
The generosity of God
The generosity of God
And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
The rewards of righteousness
The rewards of righteousness
Pr 10:16; Pr 11:18; Pr 31:31; Mt 10:42; 1 Co 3:14; Heb 6:10; 2 Jn 8