What are the dangers and consequences of manipulation?

Deuteronomy 25:16“All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.”

Psalm 5:6You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.

Psalm 25:3No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Psalm 101:7I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.

Proverbs 11:1The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

Proverbs 22:12The Lord preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.

God hates cheating and deceitfulness, two common forms of manipulation. These ungodly actions run against the grain of God’s character. Those who practice manipulation cannot expect God’s blessings.

Psalm 12:3May the Lord cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues.

Proverbs 26:28A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin.

Flattery—using praise to get what we want—destroys relationships because it puts deceit and false pretenses above trust. This leaves a path of broken trust and hurt feelings.

Proverbs 21:6Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.

Jeremiah 17:11Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. At midlife they will lose their riches; in the end, they will become poor old fools.

Dishonest gain is temporary. The fool’s gold of wealth gained by manipulation may have a momentary sweetness, but it leaves an eternal bitterness.

Proverbs 26:27If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.

Jeremiah 9:5They all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning.

Manipulation is ultimately self-destructive. Manipulators deceive themselves, thinking that selfishness will help them win the game of life. In the end they create their own suffering.

Leviticus 25:17“Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 24:14“Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.”

Nehemiah 5:15The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God, I did not act that way.

Isaiah 3:14The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.”

Malachi 1:14“Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Malachi 3:5“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Taking advantage of others shows a lack of respect for God and ultimately results in his judgment.