⁶ Go to the ant, you slacker!^[a]
Observe its ways and become wise.
⁷ Although it has no overseer, officer, or ruler,
⁸ it stores its food in summer.
It gathers its provisions at harvest time.
⁹ How long will you lie there, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of your hands to rest,
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
and scarcity will come on you like a warrior.

⁴ Lazy hands produce poverty,
but hardworking hands bring riches.
⁵ Whoever gathers crops in summer is a sensible^[a] son.
Whoever sleeps at harvest time is a disgraceful^[b] son.

²⁶ Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes,
so is a lazy person to those who send him.

¹¹ A person who works his land will have enough food,
but whoever pursues fantasies lacks sense.

²⁴ Hardworking hands will rule,
but laziness results in forced labor.^[a]

²⁷ A lazy person does not roast his game,
but a diligent person uses his wealth wisely.

⁴ The appetite of a lazy person craves things, but he gets nothing.
The appetite of hardworking people is fully satisfied.

⁴ Without cattle the manger is empty,
but a great harvest is gained by the strength of an ox.

²³ In all hard work there is gain,
but empty talk leads only to poverty.

¹⁹ The way of a lazy person is like a thorny hedge,
but the path of upright people is a highway.