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

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27 Develop your business first before building 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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30-31 I walked by the field of a certain lazy fellow and saw that it was overgrown with thorns; it was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. 32-33 Then, as I looked, I learned this lesson:

“A little extra sleep,

A little more slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest”

34 means that poverty will break in upon you suddenly like a robber and violently like a 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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2-3 It is God’s privilege to conceal things, and the king’s privilege to discover and invent. You cannot understand the height of heaven, the size of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

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

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13 A faithful employee is as refreshing as a cool day[a] in the hot summertime.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:13 a cool day, literally, “snow.”

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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13 The lazy man won’t go out and work. “There might be a lion outside!” he says. 14 He sticks to his bed like a door to its hinges! 15 He is too tired even to lift his food from his dish to his mouth! 16 Yet in his own opinion he is smarter than seven wise men.

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

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23-24 Riches can disappear fast. And the king’s crown doesn’t stay in his family forever—so watch your business[a] interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and your herds;

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:23 business, implied.

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

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19 Hard work brings prosperity; playing around brings poverty.

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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.

24-28 There are four things that are small but unusually wise:

Ants: they aren’t strong, but store up food for the winter.

Cliff badgers: delicate little animals who protect themselves by living among the rocks.

The locusts: though they have no leader, they stay together in swarms.

The lizards: they are easy to catch and kill, yet are found even in king’s palaces!

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