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Go to the ant, you sluggard.
    Consider her ways, and be wise;
which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
    provides her bread in the summer,
    and gathers her food in the harvest.
How long will you sleep, sluggard?
    When will you arise out of your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 so your poverty will come as a robber,
    and your scarcity as an armed man.

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Go to the ant, you sluggard;(A)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(B)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(C)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(D)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(E)
11 and poverty(F) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

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He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand,
    but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
He who gathers in summer is a wise son,
    but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.

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Lazy hands make for poverty,(A)
    but diligent hands bring wealth.(B)

He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.(C)

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

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke(A) to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them.(B)

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11 He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread,
    but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

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11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies have no sense.(A)

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24 The hands of the diligent ones shall rule,
    but laziness ends in slave labor.

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24 Diligent hands will rule,
    but laziness ends in forced labor.(A)

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27 The slothful man doesn’t roast his game,
    but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

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27 The lazy do not roast[a] any game,
    but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing,
    but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

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A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,(A)
    but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

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11 Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away,
    but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.

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11 Dishonest money dwindles away,(A)
    but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

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23 In all hard work there is profit,
    but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.

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23 All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

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19 The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch,
    but the path of the upright is a highway.

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19 The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,(A)
    but the path of the upright is a highway.

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One who is slack in his work
    is brother to him who is a master of destruction.

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One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.(A)

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