'Better' in the Bible

And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another man: go on living here with me.

Did we not say to you in Egypt, Let us be as we are, working for the Egyptians? for it is better to be the servants of the Egyptians than to come to our death in the waste land.

And the children of Israel said to them, It would have been better for the Lord to have put us to death in the land of Egypt, where we were seated by the flesh-pots and had bread enough for our needs; for you have taken us out to this waste of sand, to put all this people to death through need of food.

Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?

And he said to them, What have I done in comparison with you? Is not that which Ephraim took up after the grape-cutting better than all the grapes which Abiezer got in from the grape-cutting?

Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh.

What! are you any better than Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever take up a cause against Israel or make war against them?

And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.

And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his servant-girls, so that no danger may come to you in another field.

And he said, May the Lord give you his blessing, my daughter: even better than what you did at the first is this last kind act you have done, in not going after young men, with or without wealth.

He will be a giver of new life to you, and your comforter when you are old, for your daughter-in-law, who, in her love for you, is better than seven sons, has given birth to him.

He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people.

And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep.

And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.

And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

And the man said to David, Truly the men got the better of us, and came out against us into the open country, but we sent them back to the very doors of the town.

And Absalom's answer was, See, I sent to you saying, Come here, so that I may send you to the king to say, Why have I come back from Geshur? it would be better for me to be there still: let me now see the king's face, and if there is any sin in me, let him put me to death.

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom.

But the people said, It is better for you not to go out: for if we are put to flight, they will not give a thought to us, and if death overtakes half of us, it will be nothing to them: but you are of more value than ten thousand of us: so it is better for you to be ready to come to our help from this town.

And the king's servants came to our lord King David, blessing him and saying, May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and the seat of his authority greater than your seat; and the king was bent low in worship on his bed.

And the Lord will send back his blood on his head, because of the attack he made on two men more upright and better than himself, putting them to the sword without my father's knowledge; even Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.

While he himself went a day's journey into the waste land, and took a seat under a broom-plant, desiring for himself only death; for he said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.

And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vine-garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants, for it is near my house; and let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange, or, if it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money.

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not be washed in them and become clean? So turning, he went away in wrath.

Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?

So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?

And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.

Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.

And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then come to my help; and if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

So at that time the children of Israel were overcome, and the children of Judah got the better of them, because they put their faith in the Lord, the God of their fathers.

But have gone in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go after false gods, as the family of Ahab did: and because you have put to death your father's sons, your brothers, who were better than yourself:

If it is pleasing to the king, let an order go out from him, and let it be recorded among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may never be changed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her place to another who is better than she.

And Haman gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him.

So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.

Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

What profit is it to me, and how am I better off than if I had done wrong?

Who ever went against me, and got the better of me? There is no one under heaven!

A thick stick is no better than a leaf of grass, and he makes sport of the onrush of the spear.

The little which the good man has is better than the wealth of evil-doers.

For a day in your house is better than a thousand. It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to be living in the tents of sin.

It is better to have faith in the Lord than to put one's hope in man.

It is better to have faith in the Lord than to put one's hope in rulers.

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver.

For trading in it is better than trading in silver, and its profit greater than bright gold.

For wisdom is better than jewels, and all things which may be desired are nothing in comparison with her.

My fruit is better than gold, even than the best gold; and my increase is more to be desired than silver.

He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth together with trouble.

Better is a simple meal where love is, than a fat ox and hate with it.

Better is a little with righteousness, than great wealth with wrongdoing.

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! and to get knowledge is more to be desired than silver.

Better it is to have a gentle spirit with the poor, than to take part in the rewards of war with men of pride.

He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town.

Better a bit of dry bread in peace, than a house full of feasting and violent behaviour.

It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.

Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted.

The ornament of a man is his mercy, and a poor man is better than one who is false.

It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

It is better to be living in a waste land, than with a bitter-tongued and angry woman.

A good name is more to be desired than great wealth, and to be respected is better than silver and gold.

For it is better to have it said to you, Come up here; than for you to be put down in a lower place before the ruler.

It is better to be living in an angle of the house-top, than with a bitter-tongued woman in a wide house.

So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport?

Better is open protest than love kept secret.

Do not give up your friend and your father's friend; and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your trouble: better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far off.

Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are not straight.

Unnumbered women have done well, but you are better than all of them.

Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.

There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of trouble and desire for wind.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work.

A young man who is poor and wise is better than a king who is old and foolish and will not be guided by the wisdom of others.

Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.

It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.

Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.

What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.

A good name is better than oil of great price, and the day of death than the day of birth.

It is better to go to the house of weeping, than to go to the house of feasting; because that is the end of every man, and the living will take it to their hearts.

Sorrow is better than joy; when the face is sad the mind gets better.

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride.

Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom.

So I gave praise to joy, because there is nothing better for a man to do under the sun than to take meat and drink and be happy; for that will be with him in his work all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

For him who is joined to all the living there is hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is not respected, and his words are not given a hearing.

Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner is the destruction of much good.

Let him give me the kisses of his mouth: for his love is better than wine.

How fair is your love, my sister! How much better is your love than wine, and the smell of your oils than any perfume!

The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been ill, and had got better from his disease.

I will give to them in my house, and inside my walls, a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an eternal name which will not be cut off.

The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says, Let your ways and your doings be changed for the better and I will let you go on living in this place.

For if your ways and your doings are truly changed for the better; if you truly give right decisions between a man and his neighbour;

Now, then, say to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am forming an evil thing against you, and designing a design against you: let every man come back now from his evil way, and let your ways and your doings be changed for the better.

For numbers of them say evil secretly in my hearing (there is fear on every side): they say, Come, let us give witness against him; all my nearest friends, who are watching for my fall, say, It may be that he will be taken by deceit, and we will get the better of him and give him punishment.

So now, make a change for the better in your ways and your doings, and give ear to the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will let himself be turned from the decision he has made against you for evil.