How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?

Read full chapter

How long, lazy person, will you lie down?
    When will you rise from your sleep?

Read full chapter

26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,(A)
so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

19 A slacker’s way is like a thorny hedge,
but the path of the upright is a highway.(A)

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

24 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he doesn’t even bring it back to his mouth!(A)

Read full chapter

24 Lazy people bury their hand in the bowl;
    they won’t even put it to their mouth.

Read full chapter

The slacker does not plow during planting season;[a]
at harvest time he looks,[b] and there is nothing.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 20:4 Lit plow in winter
  2. 20:4 Lit inquires

The lazy don’t plow during winter;
    at harvest they look but find nothing.

Read full chapter

25 A slacker’s craving will kill him
because his hands refuse to work.(A)
26 He is filled with craving[a] all day long,
but the righteous give and don’t hold back.(B)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 21:26 Lit He craves a craving

25 The desires of the lazy will kill them,
    because their hands refuse to do anything.
26 The lazy desire things constantly,
    but the righteous give without holding back.

Read full chapter

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

Read full chapter

13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the street!
    I’ll be killed in the town square!”

Read full chapter

30 I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.
31 Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,(A)
and the stone wall was ruined.
32 I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
33 a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
34 and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need, like a bandit.(B)

Read full chapter

30 I happened upon the field of a lazy person,
    by the vineyard of one with no sense.
31 Thorns grew all over it;
    weeds covered the ground,
    and the stone wall was falling down.
32 I observed this and took it to heart;
    I saw it and learned a lesson.
33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little lying down with folded arms”—
34     and poverty will come on you like a prowler,
    deprivation like a man with a shield.

Read full chapter

13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!” (A)
14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a slacker, on his bed.(B)
15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!(C)
16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser(D)
than seven who can answer sensibly.

Read full chapter

13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the path!
    A lion in the plazas!”
14 As a door turns on its hinge,
    so do lazy people in their beds.
15 Lazy people bury their hand into the bowl,
    too tired to return it to their mouth.
16 Lazy people think they are wiser
    than seven people who answer sensibly.

Read full chapter