Idleness

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningProverbs 6:6–11Proverbs 10:4Proverbs 10:5Proverbs 10:26Proverbs 12:9Proverbs 12:24Proverbs 12:27Proverbs 13:4Proverbs 14:23Proverbs 15:19Proverbs 18:9Proverbs 19:15Proverbs 19:24Proverbs 20:4Proverbs 20:13Proverbs 21:25Proverbs 21:26Proverbs 22:13Proverbs 23:21Proverbs 24:30–34
• See Slothfulness
• See Industry

The passages, in Bible order (32)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Proverbs 6:6–11

   Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 6:6–111 voice

   Why should we dwell upon the amount of evil there is in idleness, when the apostle clearly prescribes that he who does not work should not eat. As daily sustenance is necessary for everyone, so labor in proportion to one's strength is also essential.… The Lord couples sloth with wickedness, saying, "Wicked and slothful servant." Wise Solomon, also, praises the laborer not only in the words already quoted, but also, in rebuking the sluggard, associating him by contrast with the tiniest of insects: "Go to the ant, O sluggard."

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 6:6–11→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Proverbs 10:4

   Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:41 voice

   “Lazy hands lead to poverty, etc. Whoever lives negligently in this world will suffer lack of good things in the future; but whoever fights bravely for the Lord is rewarded with the riches of eternal blessedness.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Proverbs 10:5

   He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:51 voice

   “He who gathers in summer is a wise son, etc. He who gathers to Christ the souls of the faithful is a wise son. And indeed, this harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Luke 10). But he who in this acceptable time is …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Proverbs 10:26

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

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:261 voice

   “Just as vinegar to the teeth, etc. Just as the treachery of heretics generates trouble and tears for good teachers, so a Catholic living badly is a burden through laziness to those who have been commanded to show their faith through works. For the eyes …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:26→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Proverbs 12:9

   Better to be lightly esteemed yet have a servant, than to be self-important but lack food.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 12:91 voice

   “Better is the poor who is sufficient for himself, etc. Better is the simple and humble brother, who, working the good he knows, earns life in heaven, than he who is renowned for scripture learning or even performs the office of a doctor, but lacks …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 12:9→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Proverbs 12:24

   The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 12:241 voice

   “The hand of the diligent will rule, etc. The perfect not only overcome the battles of vices but also govern the chosen brethren with greater grace of virtues. But those lax in spirit, not fearing to be entangled in sins, daily pay the tribute of …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 12:24→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Proverbs 12:27

   A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 12:272 voices

   “The fraudulent one will not gain profit, etc. For money acquired by fraud adds more harm to the soul than profit to the chest. And he who knows how to dispense his own substance for the Lord, will receive celestial gifts as a reward for …

   “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting,.... Because he takes none. The slothful man takes no pains to get anything for a livelihood, by hunting or otherwise; and though he loves to live well, and eat roast meat, yet what he roasts is not what he has got himself, but what another has laboured for. It is observed (o) that fowlers burn the wings of birds taken by them, that they may not fly away; to which the allusion may be.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 12:27→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Proverbs 13:4

   The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 13:41 voice

   "And the sluggard desires and does not desire," etc. Rightly, the lazy person is marked by the term, who wants to reign with God but does not want to work for God. The rewards delight when they are promised; the struggles deter when they are …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 13:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Proverbs 14:23

   There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 14:231 voice

   “Another brother spoke with the same Theodore, and he began to talk about matters of which he had no experience. Theodore said to him, 'You've not yet found a ship to sail in, nor put your luggage aboard, nor put out to sea, and you're …

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 14:23→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Proverbs 15:19

    The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 15:191 voice

    In this number are those whom Wisdom calls the "slothful ones," who bestrew their "way" with "thorns"; who think it a moral loss to be anxious about keeping the commandments; who erase from their own minds the Apostolic teaching, and instead of eating the bread of their own honest earning fix on that of others, and make their idleness itself into an art of living. From this number, too, come the Dreamers, who put more faith in the illusions of their dreams than in the Gospel teaching, and style their own phantasies "revelations."

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 15:19→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Proverbs 18:9

    Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 18:91 voice

    “He who is lazy and slack in his work, etc. Because he who does not strictly follow through with good beginnings imitates the hand of a destroyer through the laziness of negligence.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 18:9→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Proverbs 19:15

    Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 19:152 voices

    “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,....

    “Into a deep sleep - תרדמה tardemah, the same into which Adam was thrown, before Eve was taken from his side. Sloth renders a man utterly unconscious of all his interests. Though he has frequently felt hunger, yet he is regardless that his continual slothfulness must necessarily plunge him into more sufferings.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 19:15→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Proverbs 19:24

    The slacker buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 19:242 voices

    “The slothful man hides his hand under his armpit, etc. No one is so slothful that he considers it labor to bring his hand to his mouth while eating. But for the slothful, it is labor to bring the hand to the mouth, for a …

    “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom,.... In cold weather to keep it warm, and at other times, as unwilling to use it in labour; it is the proper posture and just attitude of a slothful man.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 19:24→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Proverbs 20:4

    The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 20:42 voices

    For the most part the slothful, while he neglects to do things that are necessary, sets before him some that are difficult, but is inconsiderately afraid of others; and so, as though finding something that he may reasonably fear, he satisfies himself that he has good reason for remaining torpid. To him it is rightly said through Solomon, "The sluggard would not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in summer, and it shall not be given unto him."

    “The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold,....

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 20:4→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Proverbs 20:13

    Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 20:131 voice

    “Do not love sleep, etc. Do not love the sleep of sin and slothfulness, about which the Apostle says, "It is high time to awake out of sleep" (Rom. XIII); lest, if you do not wish to be vigilant now, you be overtaken by that …

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 20:13→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Proverbs 21:25

    The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 21:252 voices

    “The desire of the slothful killeth him,....

    “Killeth him - He wastes his strength and life in unsatisfied longings for something which he has not energy to gain. The wish to do great or good things may sometimes be taken for the deed, but if the hindrance is from a man’s own sloth, it does but add to his condemnation.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 21:25→

    Verse page →Original language →