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15 Laziness makes a person fall into a deep sleep,
and an idle person will go hungry.

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15 Laziness will bring on a deep sleep,
    and a person[a] of idleness will suffer hunger.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:15 Or “soul,” or “life”

24 A lazy person buries his hand in the dish,
but he does not even bring the food up to his mouth.

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24 A lazy person buries his hand in the dish,
    and even to his mouth he will not bring it back.

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A lazy person fails to plow when it is the season for planting.[a]
He expects something in the harvest, but nothing will be there.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:4 Literally at the start of the rainy season

The lazy person will not plow in season;
    he will expect at the harvest, but there will be nothing.

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13 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor.
Keep your eyes open, and you will have enough to eat.

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13 Do not love sleep, lest you become poor;
    open your eyes and have plenty bread.

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17 Whoever loves pleasure will be poor.
Whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

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17 A man of want is he who loves pleasure;
    he who loves wine and oil[a] will not become rich.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:17 Or “fat”

25 A lazy person’s craving will kill him,
because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves something more,
but a righteous person gives and does not hold back.

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25 The craving of a lazy person will kill him,
    for his hands refuse to work.[a]
26 All day[b] he craves a craving,
    but the righteous will give and not hold back.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:25 Or “make”
  2. Proverbs 21:26 Literally “All the day”

29 Do you see a person who is efficient in his work?
He will serve kings.
He will not serve nobodies.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:29 Or unimportant people

29 A man who is skillful in his work, you shall see:
    before kings, he will serve;
    he will not serve before the commoners.

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27 Prepare your work outside,
and get things ready for yourself in the fields.
Afterward, build your house.

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27 Prepare your work in the street and get it ready for yourself in the field;
    afterward, then[a] you shall build your house.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:27 Hebrew “and”

30 I passed by a lazy man’s field
and by a vineyard that belonged to a senseless man.
31 It was overgrown with thistles
and covered with weeds.
Its stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw this, I took it to heart.
I observed and learned a lesson:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
and scarcity will come like a warrior.

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30 I passed by the field of a lazy person,
    and over the vineyard of a person lacking sense;[a]
31 and behold, it was overgrown—all of it was covered with thorns, its surface with nettles,
    and its stone wall[b] was broken down.
32 Then I myself saw and my heart[c] considered;
    I looked, and I took hold of instruction:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands for rest,
34 and your poverty will come running,
    and your lack like an armed warrior.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:30 Literally “heart”
  2. Proverbs 24:31 Literally “a wall of his/its stones”
  3. Proverbs 24:32 Or “mind”

14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a lazy person turns on his bed.

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14 The door turns on its hinge,
    and a lazy person on his bed.

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18 A person who tends a fig tree eats its fruit,
and a person who takes care of his master will be honored.

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18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and he who guards his master[a] will be honored.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:18 Or “lord”

23 Be certain that you know the condition of your flock very well.
Pay attention to your herds,
24 because wealth is not forever,
nor does a crown pass from generation to generation.
25 The hay is removed and new growth appears,
and grass from the mountains is gathered in.
26 Lambs provide wool for your clothing,
and the price of the field can be earned from the goats.
27 What’s more, there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for your household’s food,
and to maintain the life of your servant girls.

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23 You will surely know the condition[a] of your flock;
    your heart[b] attends to the herds.
24 For riches are not forever,
    nor a crown for generation after generation.
25 When the grass is gone, then green growth will appear,
    and the herbs of the mountains will be gathered.
26 Lambs will be your clothing,
    and goats the price of the field.
27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
    for the food of your household and the nourishment[c] of your maidservants.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:23 Literally “faces”
  2. Proverbs 27:23 Or “mind”
  3. Proverbs 27:27 Literally “life”

19 A person who works his land will have plenty of food,
but whoever pursues fantasies will have plenty of poverty.

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19 He who tills his ground will have plenty bread,
    but he who follows fantasies will have plenty of poverty.

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