The Bible on Employment

Some famous lines from the Jewish version of the story of employment + some others

Genesis 3:17
17 ...Because thou... hast eaten from the tree...; cursed is the ground...; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of they life.

Matthew 6:25-34
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Another interesting quote...

Matthew 7:1-2
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Note: That is exactly what is expressed in the idea of Karma.

Matthew 6:19-21
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Note: This same point is identified in the East as the law of impermanence.

Matthew 6:24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Note: this is where I don't understand the East but do Jesus, mammon being worldly wealth (and greed etc). You can't pursue capital (business) and pursue goodness at the same time. (As we are seeing in the financial markets at the moment). If agreed it follows that anyone who preaches both is a false prophet, especially when they proclaim to be a Christian!

Everytime I read the Sermon on the Mount which isn't often it becomes all the more remarkable. It took many years study of Buddhism to begin to understand what Jesus was really saying. It is not as I thought as a child that this stuff is easy to understand, but that it is the most profound stuff we will ever be fortunate enough to read! Sorry it is that arrogant folks, like myself, once thought we could make worthy comment upon it!