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How long will you sleep, sluggard?
    When will you arise out of your sleep?

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How long will you lie down, lazy man?
    When will you get up from your sleep?

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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 is to the mouth[a] and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the lazy person to those who send him.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 10:26 Lit. teeth

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 lifestyle of the lazy is like a thorny hedge,
    but the path taken by the upright is an open highway.

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24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

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24 The lazy person buries his hand in his dish
    and doesn’t bother to bring it back to his mouth.

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The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;
    therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

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A lazy person doesn’t plow in the proper[a] season;
    he looks for a harvest, but there is nothing.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:4 The Heb. lacks proper

25 The desire of the sluggard kills him,
    for his hands refuse to labor.
26 There are those who covet greedily all day long;
    but the righteous give and don’t withhold.

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25 What the lazy person craves will kill him,
    because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he continues to crave,
    while the righteous person gives without holding back.

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13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
    I will be killed in the streets!”

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13 The lazy person says, “There is a lion outside!
    I will be killed in the street!”

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30 I went by the field of the sluggard,
    by the vineyard of the man void of understanding:
31 Behold, it was all grown over with thorns.
    Its surface was covered with nettles,
    and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw, and considered well.
    I saw, and received instruction:
33 a little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to sleep,
34 so your poverty will come as a robber
    and your want as an armed man.

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30 I went by the field belonging to a lazy man,
    by a vineyard belonging to a senseless person.
31 There it was, overgrown with thistles,
    the ground covered with thorns,
        its stone wall collapsed.
32 As I observed, I thought about it;
    I watched, and learned a lesson:
33 “A little sleep! A little slumber!
    A little folding of my hands to rest!”
34 Then your poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    your need like an armed bandit.

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13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
    A fierce lion roams the streets!”
14 As the door turns on its hinges,
    so does the sluggard on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish.
    He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven men who answer with discretion.

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On Laziness

13 The lazy person claims, “There is a lion in the road!
    There’s a lion in the streets!”
14 The door turns on its hinges—
    as does the lazy person on his bed.
15 The lazy person buries his hand in the dish,
    but he’s too tired to bring it to his mouth again.
16 The lazy person is wiser in his own opinion
    than seven men who can give an appropriate response.

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