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Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
    Learn from their ways and become wise!
Though they have no prince
    or governor or ruler to make them work,
they labor hard all summer,
    gathering food for the winter.
But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?
    When will you wake up?
10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
    scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

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Go to the ant, you sluggard;(A)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(B)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(C)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(D)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(E)
11 and poverty(F) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

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Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

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Lazy people are soon poor;
    hard workers get rich.

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Lazy hands make for poverty,(A)
    but diligent hands bring wealth.(B)

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He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

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A wise youth harvests in the summer,
    but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace.

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He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.(A)

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He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

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26 Lazy people irritate their employers,
    like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.

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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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26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

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11 A hard worker has plenty of food,
    but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.

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11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies have no sense.(A)

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11 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

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24 Work hard and become a leader;
    be lazy and become a slave.

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24 Diligent hands will rule,
    but laziness ends in forced labor.(A)

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24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

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27 Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch,
    but the diligent make use of everything they find.

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27 The lazy do not roast[a] any game,
    but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

27 The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.

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Lazy people want much but get little,
    but those who work hard will prosper.

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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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The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

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11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears;
    wealth from hard work grows over time.

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11 Dishonest money dwindles away,(A)
    but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

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11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

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