The Folly of Indolence

(A)Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no [a]captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her [b]supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
(B)How long will you [c]slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 (C)So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:7 Lit. leader
  2. Proverbs 6:8 Lit. bread
  3. Proverbs 6:9 Lit. lie down

Go to the ant, thou sluggard;
Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no [a]chief,
Overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou [b]sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to [c]sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as a [d]robber,
And thy want as [e]an armed man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:7 Or, judge
  2. Proverbs 6:9 Hebrew lie down.
  3. Proverbs 6:10 Hebrew lie down.
  4. Proverbs 6:11 Or, rover
  5. Proverbs 6:11 Hebrew a man with a shield.

(A)He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But (B)the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in (C)summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is (D)a son who causes shame.

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He becometh poor that worketh with a slack hand;
But the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
He that gathereth in summer is [a]a wise son;
But he that sleepeth in harvest is a son [b]that causeth shame.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 10:5 Or, a son that doeth wisely
  2. Proverbs 10:5 Or, that doeth shamefully

26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy man to those who send him.

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26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes,
So is the sluggard to them that send him.

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11 (A)He who [a]tills his land will be satisfied with (B)bread,
But he who follows [b]frivolity (C)is devoid of [c]understanding.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:11 works or cultivates
  2. Proverbs 12:11 Lit. vain things
  3. Proverbs 12:11 Lit. heart

11 He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread;
But he that followeth after [a]vain persons is void of understanding.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:11 Or, vain things

24 (A)The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

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24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule;
But [a]the slothful shall be put under taskwork.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:24 Hebrew slothfulness.

27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting,
But diligence is man’s precious possession.

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27 [a]The slothful man [b]roasteth not that which he took in hunting;
But the precious substance of men [c]is to the diligent.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 Hebrew slothfulness.
  2. Proverbs 12:27 Or, catcheth not his prey
  3. Proverbs 12:27 Or, is to be diligent

(A)The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

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The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

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Where no oxen are, the [a]trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:4 manger or feed trough

Where no oxen are, the crib is clean;
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.

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23 In all labor there is profit,
But [a]idle chatter leads only to poverty.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:23 Lit. talk of the lips

23 In all labor there is profit;
But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

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19 (A)The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns,
But the way of the upright is a highway.

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19 The way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns;
But the path of the upright is made a highway.

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26 The person who labors, labors for himself,
For his hungry mouth drives (A)him on.

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26 The appetite of the laboring man laboreth for him;
For his mouth urgeth him thereto.

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He who is slothful in his work
Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.

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He also that is slack in his work
Is brother to him that is a destroyer.

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