Proverbs 24:30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
30 I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person,(A)
Proverbs 12:11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 Those who till their land will have plenty of food,
but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.(A)
Proverbs 6:6-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.(A)
7 Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(B)
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?(C)
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.(D)
12 A scoundrel and a villain
goes around with crooked speech,(E)
13 winking the eyes, shuffling the feet,
pointing the fingers,(F)
14 with perverted mind devising evil,
continually sowing discord;(G)
15 on such a one calamity will descend suddenly,
in a moment, damage beyond repair.(H)
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,(I)
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,(J)
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.(K)
Job 4:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.(A)
Ecclesiastes 8:9-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other’s hurt.(A)
God’s Ways Are Inscrutable
10 Then I saw the wicked approaching to sacrifice;[a] they go in and out of the holy place, and they boast[b] in the city that they have done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the human heart is fully set to do evil.
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Ecclesiastes 4:1-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed—with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power—with no one to comfort them.(A) 2 And I commended the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive, 3 but better than both is the one who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.(B)
4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.(C)
5 Fools fold their hands
and consume their own flesh.(D)
6 Better is a handful with quiet
than two handfuls with toil
and a chasing after wind.(E)
7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 the case of solitary individuals, without sons or brothers; yet there is no end to all their toil, and their eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling,” they ask, “and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.(F)
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Proverbs 10:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 On the lips of one who has understanding wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of one who lacks sense.(A)
Proverbs 6:32
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
32 But he who commits adultery has no sense;
he who does it destroys himself.(A)
Psalm 37:25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
25 I have been young and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.(A)
Job 15:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 “I will show you; listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare—
Job 5:27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
27 See, we have searched this out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for yourself.”
Ecclesiastes 7:15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Riddles of Life
15 In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing.(A)
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Psalm 107:42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
42 The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness stops its mouth.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.