Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest.
Parallel translations
- WEB Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.
- KJV Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
- BSB Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
- ESV Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
- NKJV Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.
- NASB Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
A modest income gained righteously is better than great wealth gained unjustly. It matters because integrity before God outweighs the size of one's earnings.
Overview
Another 'better than' proverb, this verse prizes righteousness over riches obtained through injustice. Little held with a clean conscience is of greater worth than abundant unjust gain. It echoes the consistent biblical preference for godliness over ill-gotten wealth (cf. Proverbs 15:16; Psalm 37:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 37:16Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.
- Prov 15:16Better is little, with the fear of Yahweh, than great treasure with trouble.
- 1 Tim 6:6–9But godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Jer 17:11As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the middle of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
- Prov 21:6–7Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.
- Mic 6:10Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed?
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 16:8 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.