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Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
    officer or ruler,
she prepares her food in summer,
    and gathers her sustenance in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a vagabond,
    and want like an armed man.

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A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
A son who gathers in summer is prudent,
    but a son who sleeps in harvest brings shame.

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26 Like vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him.

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11 He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
    but he who follows worthless pursuits has no sense.

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24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
    while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

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27 A slothful man will not catch his prey,[a]
    but the diligent man will get precious wealth.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 Cn Compare Gk Syr: The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  2. Proverbs 12:27 Cn: The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

The soul of the sluggard craves, and gets nothing,
    while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

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11 Wealth hastily gotten[a] will dwindle,
    but he who gathers little by little will increase it.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 13:11 Gk Vg: Heb from vanity

23 In all toil there is profit,
    but mere talk tends only to want.

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19 The way of a sluggard is overgrown with thorns,
    but the path of the upright is a level highway.

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He who is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.

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