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The slack hand impoverishes,
    but the busy hand brings riches.(A)
A son who gathers in summer is a credit;
    a son who slumbers during harvest, a disgrace.
Blessings are for the head of the just;
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 10:6 This saying, like several others in the chapter, plays on the different senses of the verb “to cover.” As in English, “to cover” can mean to fill (as in Is 60:2) and to conceal (as in Jb 16:18). Colon B can be read either “violence fills the mouth (= head) of the wicked” or “the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” The ambiguity is intentional; the proverb is meant to be read both ways.