Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wisdom saying in Solomon's collection, addressed to no named individual; it stands between a warning that God weighs the heart (21:2) and a condemnation of pride (21:4).
The words — נִבְחָר (nivchar, "chosen") and זָבַח (zavach, "sacrifice") form the hinge: what God selects over what is offered.
The thread — The same contrast recurs in 1 Samuel 15:22 (obedience over burnt offerings), Hosea 6:6 (mercy over sacrifice), and Proverbs 15:8 (the prayer of the upright vs. the sacrifice of the wicked).
Why it lands — It forces the reader to ask whether their religious activity is a substitute for actually doing justice, and answers that it is.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
- Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Micah 6:6 With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?
- Mark 12:33 and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- Isaiah 1:11 “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
- Jeremiah 7:21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!
- Psalms 50:8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.