| For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. | As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. |
| How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver! | How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! |
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| Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. | Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. |
| I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. | Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. |
| Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. | A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. |
| It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. | It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. |
| There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. | Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. |
| A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. | 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. |
| Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. | Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice. |
| That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. | Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. |
| I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. | I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. |
| Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. | Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. |
| Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. | What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. |
| The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. | To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. |
| Better to have little, with fear for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil. | Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. |
| That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? | Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? |
| There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. | One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. |
| And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath. | How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. |
| Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. | A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. |
| The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. | The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. |
| Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. |
| I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food. | I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. |
| But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. | You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. |
| No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. | No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. |
| But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. | Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. |
