God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.”

Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”

Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.”

“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it.

Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”

Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. “Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted.

to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.

and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Going to War

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left.

It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?

“Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.”

Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?

They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?”

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.

He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.

Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”

Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men?

“No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her.

Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent word to you and said, ‘Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!”’ Now then, I want to see the king’s face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death.”

Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

But the men said, “You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city.”

Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king; so we have a greater claim on David than you have. Why then do you treat us with contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the men of Judah pressed their claims even more forcefully than the men of Israel.

Was he not held in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was not included among them.

He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed

The Lord will repay him for the blood he shed, because without my father David knowing it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them—Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army—were better men and more upright than he.

Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.

while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”

Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

“The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.

But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.

“Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.

“But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal.

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

The enemy will not get the better of him; the wicked will not oppress him.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.

for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.

Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!

Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.

Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.

What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,” than for him to humiliate you before his nobles. What you have seen with your eyes

Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:

Advancement Is Meaningless

Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.

It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.

A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Wisdom

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.

Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.