27 Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field;(A)
afterward, build your house.

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27 Put your outdoor work in order
    and get your fields ready;
    after that, build your house.

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30 I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.
31 Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,(A)
and the stone wall was ruined.
32 I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
33 a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
34 and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need, like a bandit.(B)

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30 I went past the field of a sluggard,(A)
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(B)
34 and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.(C)

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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter(A)
and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
    to search out a matter is the glory of kings.(A)

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13 To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy
is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day;
he refreshes the life of his masters.(A)

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13 Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time
    is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;
    he refreshes the spirit of his master.(A)

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13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!” (A)
14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a slacker, on his bed.(B)
15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!(C)
16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser(D)
than seven who can answer sensibly.

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13 A sluggard says,(A) “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”(B)
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.(C)
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.(D)
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

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23 Know well the condition of your flock,(A)
and pay attention to your herds,

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23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,(A)
    give careful attention to your herds;

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19 The one who works his land
will have plenty of food,(A)
but whoever chases fantasies
will have his fill of poverty.(B)

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19 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.(A)

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24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;(A)
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;(B)
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;(C)
28 a lizard[a] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

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Footnotes

  1. 30:28 Or spider

24 “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;(A)
26 hyraxes(B) are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locusts(C) have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

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