(A)Go to (B)the ant, O (C)sluggard;
    consider her ways, and (D)be wise.
(E)Without having any chief,
    (F)officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread (G)in summer
    and (H)gathers her food in harvest.
(I)How long will you lie there, (J)O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 (K)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    (L)a little (M)folding of the hands to rest,
11 (N)and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

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Go to the ant, you lazy person;
    observe its ways and grow wise.
The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
    Even so, it gets its food in summer;
    gathers its provisions at harvest.
How long, lazy person, will you lie down?
    When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the arms to lie down—
11     and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
        destitution like a warrior.

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A slack hand (A)causes poverty,
    (B)but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who (C)gathers in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps in harvest is (D)a son who brings shame.

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Laziness brings poverty;
    hard work makes one rich.
A wise son harvests in the summer;
    a disgraceful son sleeps right through the harvest.

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26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him.

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26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so are lazy people to those who authorize them.

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11 (A)Whoever works his land (B)will have plenty of bread,
    (C)but he who follows (D)worthless pursuits lacks sense.

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11 Those who work their land will have plenty to eat,
    but those who engage in empty pursuits have no sense.

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24 (A)The hand of the diligent will rule,
    while the slothful will be (B)put to forced labor.

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24 A hard worker is in charge,
    while a lazy one will be sentenced to hard labor.

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27 (A)Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,
    but the diligent man will get precious wealth.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 Or but diligence is precious wealth

27 The lazy don’t roast[a] their prey,
    but hard workers receive precious riches.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 Heb uncertain

(A)The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
    while the soul of the diligent (B)is richly supplied.

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The lazy have strong desires but receive nothing;
    the appetite of the diligent is satisfied.

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Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
    but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

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When there are no oxen, the stall is clean,
    but when there is a strong bull, there is abundant produce.

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23 In all toil there is profit,
    but mere talk (A)tends only to poverty.

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23 There is profit in hard work,
    but mere talk leads to poverty.

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19 The way of (A)a sluggard is like a hedge of (B)thorns,
    but the path of the upright is (C)a level highway.

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19 The path of the lazy is like a hedge of thorns,
    but the way of those who do right is a clear road.

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26 A worker's appetite works for him;
    his (A)mouth urges him on.

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26 The appetite of workers labors for them,
    for their hunger presses them on.

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Whoever is slack in his work
    is a (A)brother to him who destroys.

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Those who are lazy in their work
    are brothers to thugs.

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