Go to the ant, you sluggard;(A)
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer(B)
    and gathers its food at harvest.(C)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?(D)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest(E)
11 and poverty(F) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

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Lazy hands make for poverty,(A)
    but diligent hands bring wealth.(B)

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He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.(A)

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke(A) to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them.(B)

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11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies have no sense.(A)

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24 Diligent hands will rule,
    but laziness ends in forced labor.(A)

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27 The lazy do not roast[a] any game,
    but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:27 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,(A)
    but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

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11 Dishonest money dwindles away,(A)
    but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

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Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
    but from the strength of an ox(A) come abundant harvests.

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19 The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,(A)
    but the path of the upright is a highway.

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26 The appetite of laborers works for them;
    their hunger drives them on.

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A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son
    and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

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One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.(A)

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15 Laziness brings on deep sleep,
    and the shiftless go hungry.(A)

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24 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he will not even bring it back to his mouth!(A)

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Sluggards(A) do not plow in season;
    so at harvest time they look but find nothing.(B)

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13 Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;(A)
    stay awake and you will have food to spare.

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The plans of the diligent lead to profit(A)
    as surely as haste leads to poverty.

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17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
    whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.(A)

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25 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,(A)
    because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous(B) give without sparing.(C)

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13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!(A)
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

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Saying 6

29 Do you see someone skilled(A) in their work?
    They will serve(B) before kings;(C)
    they will not serve before officials of low rank.

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Saying 25

10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
    how small is your strength!(A)

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