There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
This verse comes from the Book of Proverbs, a collection of ancient wisdom sayings from Israel, many attributed to King Solomon. Proverbs deals in observations about how life tends to work — patterns of human behavior and their consequences. This particular saying is deliberately counterintuitive: the person who gives freely ends up gaining more, while the person who withholds and hoards ends up with less. It isn't necessarily a guarantee of financial reward — Proverbs describes tendencies, not formulas — but it points to something deeply true about how generosity and scarcity work in human life.
God, you are the original open-handed giver — you held nothing back, even when it cost everything. Loosen my grip on the things I clutch too tightly. Help me trust that an open hand is a safer, fuller way to live than a closed fist. Show me what to give, and give me the courage to actually do it. Amen.
An accountant would call this bad math. Give more, have more. Hold tight, end up with less. But Proverbs isn't naive about money — this is one of the most practically minded books in the Bible — so when it says something that breaks our intuitions about scarcity, it's worth stopping. There's something about the white-knuckled grip of hoarding that actually accelerates loss. And there's something about genuinely open-handed giving — not strategic giving, not the kind where you're calculating the return — that creates room for more to arrive. This isn't a prosperity gospel promise that tithing will make you wealthy. It's something quieter and stranger. The 'even more' a generous person gains might be relational richness, or peace of mind, or the compounding effect of trust people place in someone who gives freely. But the real question hiding in this verse isn't about money at all. It's: *what are you withholding right now?* Not just dollars. Time. Praise you haven't given. Forgiveness you've been sitting on. Help you could offer but haven't. What are you holding back that might actually free you more than the person you finally gave it to?
What do you think the writer meant by 'gains even more' — does gaining more have to be financial, or what other forms could it take?
Can you think of a specific time when giving something away — money, time, energy, credit — unexpectedly enriched your own life? What happened?
This verse implies that withholding comes from fear of not having enough. What are you most afraid of running out of — and how does that fear quietly shape your day-to-day decisions?
Who in your life right now might genuinely benefit from something you've been holding back — not out of cruelty, but out of busyness, self-protection, or just not making the time?
Is there one specific act of generosity you've been putting off or talking yourself out of? What would it actually take to do it before this week is over?
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully .
2 Corinthians 9:6
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
Ecclesiastes 11:6
Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
Deuteronomy 15:10
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Isaiah 58:10
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Proverbs 19:17
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luke 6:38
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Corinthians 9:8
There is the one who [generously] scatters [abroad], and yet increases all the more; And there is the one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want and poverty.
AMP
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
ESV
There is one who scatters, and [yet] increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, [and yet it results] only in want.
NASB
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
NIV
There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.
NKJV
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.
NLT
The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
MSG