27 Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field;(A)
afterward, build your house.

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27 Get your outside work done;
    make preparations in the field;
    then you can build your house.

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30 I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of one 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,
and your need, like a bandit.(B)

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30 I happened upon the field of a lazy person,
    by the vineyard of one with no sense.
31 Thorns grew all over it;
    weeds covered the ground,
    and the stone wall was falling down.
32 I observed this and took it to heart;
    I saw it and learned a lesson.
33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little lying down with folded arms”—
34     and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
    deprivation like a man with a shield.

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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter(A)
and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

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It is the glory of God to hide something
    and the glory of kings to discover something.

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13 To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy
is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day;
he refreshes the life of his masters.(A)

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13 Like the coolness of snow on a harvest day
    are reliable messengers to those who send them;
    they restore the life of their master.

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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 who can answer sensibly.

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13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the path!
    A lion in the plazas!”
14 As a door turns on its hinge,
    so do lazy people in their beds.
15 Lazy people bury their hand into the bowl,
    too tired to return it to their mouth.
16 Lazy people think they are wiser
    than seven people who answer sensibly.

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23 Know well the condition of your flock,(A)
and pay attention to your herds,

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23 Know your flock well;
    pay attention to your herds,

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19 The one who works his land
will have plenty of food,(A)
but whoever chases fantasies
will have his fill of poverty.(B)

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19 Those who work the land will have plenty to eat,
    but those with worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

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24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;(A)
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;(B)
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;(C)
28 a lizard[a] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

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Footnotes

  1. 30:28 Or spider

24 Four things are among the smallest on earth,
    but they are extremely wise:
25     Ants as creatures aren’t strong,
            but they store away their food in the summer.
26     Badgers as creatures aren’t powerful,
            but they make their homes in the rocks.
27     Locusts don’t have a king,
            but they march together in ranks.
28     You can catch lizards in your hand,
            but they are in kings’ palaces.

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