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27 Do your planning and prepare your fields
    before building your house.

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27 First do your outside work,
    preparing your land for yourself.
        After that, build your house.

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30 I walked by the field of a lazy person,
    the vineyard of one with no common sense.
31 I saw that it was overgrown with nettles.
    It was covered with weeds,
    and its walls were broken down.
32 Then, as I looked and thought about it,
    I learned this lesson:
33 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
    scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

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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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It is God’s privilege to conceal things
    and the king’s privilege to discover them.

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It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
    and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

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13 Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer.
    They revive the spirit of their employer.

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13 Like cold snow during harvest time
    is a faithful messenger to those who send him;
        he refreshes his masters.

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13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road!
    Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”

14 As a door swings back and forth on its hinges,
    so the lazy person turns over in bed.

15 Lazy people take food in their hand
    but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

16 Lazy people consider themselves smarter
    than seven wise counselors.

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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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23 Know the state of your flocks,
    and put your heart into caring for your herds,

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23 Keep well informed of the condition of your flocks
    and pay attention to your herds,

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19 A hard worker has plenty of food,
    but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

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19 Whoever works his farmland will have abundant food,
    but whoever chases fantasies will become very poor.

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24 There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise:
25 Ants—they aren’t strong,
    but they store up food all summer.
26 Hyraxes[a]—they aren’t powerful,
    but they make their homes among the rocks.
27 Locusts—they have no king,
    but they march in formation.
28 Lizards—they are easy to catch,
    but they are found even in kings’ palaces.

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Footnotes

  1. 30:26 Or Coneys, or Rock badgers.

24 Four things on earth are small,
    but they are very, very wise:
25 Ants aren’t a strong species,[a]
    yet they prepare their food in the summer.
26 The rock badgers aren’t a strong species[b] either,
    yet they build their dens in the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king,
    but they all swarm in ranks.
28 Spiders can be caught by the hand,
    yet they’re found in kings’ palaces.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:25 Lit. people
  2. Proverbs 30:26 Lit. people