The topic of paying laborers is addressed in various passages throughout the Bible, emphasizing the importance of fairness, justice, and integrity in compensating those who work. The biblical perspective on this issue underscores the value of labor and the moral obligation of employers to provide just wages.

Old Testament Foundations

The Old Testament lays a strong foundation for the ethical treatment of laborers. In Leviticus 19:13, the law explicitly commands, "You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. The wages due a hired hand must not remain with you until morning." This verse highlights the importance of timely payment, ensuring that workers receive their due without unnecessary delay.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 further reinforces this principle: "Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them; otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin." Here, the emphasis is on the vulnerability of the laborer and the employer's responsibility to meet their immediate needs.

Wisdom Literature

The wisdom literature of the Old Testament also speaks to the issue of paying laborers. Proverbs 3:27-28 advises, "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is within your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Come back tomorrow and I will give it to you'—when you already have it with you." This passage encourages promptness and generosity in dealing with others, including laborers.

New Testament Teachings

The New Testament continues to uphold the principles of fair compensation and respect for workers. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, found in Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus illustrates the kingdom of heaven through the account of a landowner who hires laborers at different times of the day but pays them all the same wage. While the parable primarily teaches about God's grace, it also reflects the importance of the employer's agreement with the laborers and the fulfillment of that agreement.

James 5:4 provides a stern warning against the exploitation of workers: "Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts." This passage underscores the seriousness of withholding wages and the divine attention to the plight of the oppressed.

Apostolic Instructions

The apostle Paul, in his letters, also addresses the relationship between employers and employees. In Colossians 4:1, he instructs, "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven." Although the context involves masters and slaves, the principle of fairness and accountability to God applies broadly to all employer-employee relationships.

Conclusion

The biblical mandate for paying laborers is clear and consistent across both the Old and New Testaments. It calls for justice, promptness, and fairness, reflecting God's concern for the dignity and well-being of all individuals. The Bible's teachings on this topic serve as a moral compass for employers, reminding them of their responsibilities and the divine oversight of their actions.Matthew 20:1-16
For the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
Topicalbible.org

Exalting the Cross
... entrusted to his care, a longing desire that they shall be laborers together with
God ... women by living a life of obedience to God's law and by paying the penalty ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 20 exalting the cross.htm

Eighth Commandment
... take the fare, they reached the Institute and he jumped off without paying his fare ...
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/weighed and wanting/eighth commandment.htm

Light and Shade.
... Monthly they call on the merchants and shopkeepers, who by paying down a sufficient ...
but has made little effort to increase the number of her laborers as fast ...
//christianbookshelf.org/fagg/forty years in south china/iv light and shade.htm

Contradiction Between Our Life and Our Christian Conscience.
... state duties of submitting to the appointed authority, and paying taxes, and ... satisfied
through the exhausting, often fatal, toil of oppressed laborers, that is ...
/.../the kingdom of god is within you/chapter v contradiction between our.htm

The Restoration of the Jews.
... to some extent, as personal household servants, but more generally as agricultural
laborers, to till ... and it was held in such a way that, by paying a certain ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/abbott/cyrus the great/chapter ix the restoration of.htm

The Two Yokes
... or wrong of this, where questions arise between capitalists and skillful laborers,
but I ... we can only maintain our freedom by everyone of us paying that right ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 18 1872/the two yokes.htm

Later English Reformers.
... bishop of Durham had done more than any other person; for by paying a large ... In Scotland
the seeds of truth scattered by Columba and his co-laborers had never ...
/.../the great controversy between christ and satan /14 later english reformers.htm

The Righteousness of Works Improperly Inferred from Rewards.
... in which he represented himself as a householder, who sent all the laborers whom
he ... in the decline of the day and the conclusion of life; not paying the price ...
/.../the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 18 the righteousness of.htm

Acts XIII
... pre-eminence which he afterward maintained over Barnabas and all subsequent
follow-laborers. ... We can not dismiss this topic without paying some attention to the ...
/.../mcgarvey/a commentary on acts of the apostles/acts xiii.htm

How Antiochus Made a League with Ptolemy and How Onias Provoked ...
... of his countrymen, but bringing the nation into dangers, by not paying this money ...
ten yoke of the oxen, and distributed their flesh among the laborers, and cut ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 4 how antiochus made.htm

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