One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
- KJV There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
- NKJV There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.
- NASB There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.
- NLT Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Generous giving can lead to increase, while stingy hoarding leads to poverty. God's economy often rewards open-handedness over grasping.
Overview
This counterintuitive proverb observes that those who give freely often prosper, while those who withhold unduly come to want. It teaches that generosity, under God's blessing, multiplies rather than depletes. The principle is taken up in the New Testament's teaching that God loves a cheerful giver and supplies the generous.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 19:17Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
- Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
- Deut 15:10Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.
- Ps 112:9He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
- Eccl 11:6Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- Hag 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”
- Hag 1:9–11You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
- 2 Cor 9:5–11So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you beforehand and make arrangements for the bountiful gift you had promised. This way, your gift will be prepared generously and not begrudgingly.
- Prov 11:18The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
- Hag 2:16–19from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty.
- Prov 28:8He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Eccl 11:1–2Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
- Acts 11:29–30So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 11:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.