Laziness

Go to the ant,(A) you slacker!(B)
Observe its ways and become wise.

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Go to the ant, you sluggard;(A)
    consider its ways and be wise!

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26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,(A)
so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke(A) to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them.(B)

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The slacker craves, yet has nothing,
but the diligent is fully satisfied.(A)

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A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,(A)
    but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

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19 A slacker’s way is like a thorny hedge,
but the path of the upright is a highway.(A)

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19 The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,(A)
    but the path of the upright is a highway.

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24 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth.(A)

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24 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not even bring it back to his mouth!(A)

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The slacker does not plow during planting season;[a]
at harvest time he looks,[b] and there is nothing.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:4 Lit plow in winter
  2. Proverbs 20:4 Lit inquires

Sluggards(A) do not plow in season;
    so at harvest time they look but find nothing.(B)

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25 A slacker’s craving will kill him
because his hands refuse to work.(A)

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25 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,(A)
    because his hands refuse to work.

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30 I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
31 Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,(A)
and the stone wall was ruined.
32 I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
33 a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
34 and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.(B)

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30 I went past the field of a sluggard,(A)
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(B)
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.(C)

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13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!”(A)
14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a slacker, on his bed.(B)
15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he is too weary to bring it to his mouth.(C)
16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser(D)
than seven men who can answer sensibly.

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13 A sluggard says,(A) “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”(B)
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.(C)
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.(D)
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

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