The Folly of Indolence

(A)Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no [a]captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her [b]supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
(B)How long will you [c]slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 (C)So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:7 Lit. leader
  2. Proverbs 6:8 Lit. bread
  3. Proverbs 6:9 Lit. lie down

Look to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

which, having no guide, overseer or ruler,

provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep”

11 so shall thy poverty come as a marauder, and thy want as an armed man.

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(A)He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But (B)the hand of the diligent makes rich.

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He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

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He who gathers in (A)summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is (B)a son who causes shame.

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He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy man to those who send him.

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

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11 (A)He who [a]tills his land will be satisfied with (B)bread,
But he who follows [b]frivolity (C)is devoid of [c]understanding.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:11 works or cultivates
  2. Proverbs 12:11 Lit. vain things
  3. Proverbs 12:11 Lit. heart

11 He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread, but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

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24 (A)The hand of the diligent will rule,
But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

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24 The hand of the diligent shall exercise rule, but the slothful shall be under tribute.

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27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting,
But diligence is man’s precious possession.

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27 The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is precious.

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(A)The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

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The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

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11 (A)Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
But he who gathers by labor will increase.

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11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathereth by labor shall increase.

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Where no oxen are, the [a]trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:4 manger or feed trough

Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox.

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19 (A)The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns,
But the way of the upright is a highway.

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19 The way of a slothful man is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the righteous is made a plain.

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26 The person who labors, labors for himself,
For his hungry mouth drives (A)him on.

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26 He that laboreth, laboreth for himself, for his mouth craveth it of him.

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