The lottery is a form of gambling in which tickets are sold for a chance to win a prize. Prizes may be cash or goods, services, or land or buildings. In some lotteries, the prizes are determined by a random drawing of numbers; in others, a panel of judges or experts chooses the winners. State-sponsored lotteries are common in many countries. The word “lottery” is derived from the Dutch noun lot, which means fate or fortune.

The earliest recorded lotteries were in the 17th century, and they played an important role in raising funds for public projects such as canals, roads, schools, colleges, and churches in colonial America. Lotteries have a long history of being used to fund military campaigns, too.

Lottery is a popular form of gambling, and it’s a great way for states to raise money without increasing taxes. But it’s not without cost, and some of those costs might surprise you.

The biggest cost is that the lottery reinforces this misguided meritocratic belief that we’re all going to be rich someday, and it does so by dangling the promise of instant riches to people with a couple dollars in their pocket. But the real cost is deeper, and it comes from the insidious effect that the lottery has on our social fabric. It disproportionately lures the poor, relegating them to a class that reverberates throughout society. It also encourages covetousness, a sin that the Bible forbids: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that is his.” (Exodus 20:17).