Proverbs 15:16
14 A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
15 All the days of the oppressed are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
17 Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.
18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
- KJV
- Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
- WEB
- Better is little, with the fear of the LORD, than great treasure with trouble.
- ASV
- Better is little, with the fear of Jehovah, Than great treasure and trouble therewith.
- DARBY
- Better is little with the fear of Jehovah than great store and disquietude therewith.
- BLB
- Better [is] a little with the fear of YHWH, than great treasure and anxiety with it.
- ÅB
- Bedre er lite med Herrens frykt enn en stor skatt med uro.
- OTB
- Bedre er lite med frykt for Herren enn stor rikdom med uro.
- B1930
- Bedre er lite med Herrens frykt enn en stor skatt med uro.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 16:8
Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
Read in contextPsalms 37:16
Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 5:10–12
He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
Read in context1 Timothy 6:6
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
Read in contextProverbs 28:6
Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.
Read in contextProverbs 10:22
The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 2:18–23
I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 2:10–11
Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
Read in context