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Better is little, with the fear of Yahweh, than great treasure with trouble.
Proverbs 15:16 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
  • BSB Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
  • NKJV Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great treasure with trouble.
  • NASB Better is a little with the fear of the Lord Than great treasure, and turmoil with the treasure.
  • NLT Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.

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.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Prov 16:8Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.
  • Ps 37:16Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.
  • Eccl 5:10–12He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.
  • 1 Tim 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
  • Prov 28:6Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.
  • Prov 10:22Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
  • Eccl 2:18–23I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
  • Eccl 2:10–11Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 15:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 15:16 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.