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 6:6–112 voices

   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."

   “Go to the ant, thou sluggard - נמלה nemalah, the ant, is a remarkable creature for foresight, industry, and economy. At the proper seasons they collect their food - not in the summer to lay up for the winter; for they sleep during the winter, and eat not; and therefore such hoards would be to them useless; but when the food necessary for them is most plentiful, then they collect it for their consumption in the proper seasons.

   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

   “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand,.... That is either remiss in giving to the necessities of others, according to his abilities, and as cases require; or that is negligent and slothful in his business. Or, "that worketh with a deceitful hand"; or, "with a hand of deceit" (u), as it may be rendered; who pretends to work, but does not; makes a show as if he did, but acts deceitfully; or who uses many tricking and deceitful ways and methods to live, as usually slothful persons do.

   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 10:52 voices

   “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son,.... Which is the time of gathering the fruits of the earth, and laying them up against winter, as the ant is said to do, Pro 6:8; but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame; to himself, and to his parents and relations.

   “The son is called upon to enter upon the labors of others, and reap where they have sown. To sleep when the plenteous harvest lies ready for the sickle is the most extreme laziness.

   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

   “As vinegar to the teeth - The acid softening and dissolving the alkali of the bone, so as to impair their texture, and render them incapable of masticating; and as smoke affects the eyes, irritating their tender vessels, so as to give pain and prevent distinct vision; so the sluggard, the lounging, thriftless messenger, who never returns in time with the desired answer.

   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 12:92 voices

   “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 …

   “Two interpretations are equally tenable; (1) as in the King James Version, He whom men despise, or who is “lowly” in his own eyes (compare 1Sa 18:23), if he has a slave, i. e., if he is one step above absolute poverty, and has some one to supply his wants, is better off than the man who boasts of rank or descent and has nothing to eat. Respectable mediocrity is better than boastful poverty. (2) he who, though despised, is a servant to himself, i. e., supplies his own wants, is better than the arrogant and helpless.

   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 shall bear rule - And why? because by his own industry he is independent; and every such person is respected wherever found.

   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

   “(Compare Pr 12:24). took in hunting--or, "his venison." He does not improve his advantages. the substance . . . precious--or, "the wealth of a man of honor is being diligent," or "diligence." precious--literally, "honor" (Ec 10:1).

   “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.

   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 15:192 voices

    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."

    “The slothful goes on his journey, and for him the path is thick set with thorns, briars, fences, through which he cannot force his way. For the “righteous” (better, upright), the same path is as the broad raised causeway of the king’s highway. Compare Isa 40:3.

    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.

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Proverbs 19:15

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

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 19:151 voice

    “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.

    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 - For other parts of this character, see the preceding chapter, Proverbs 19 (note). It is seldom that there is a season of very cold weather in Palestine; very cold days sometimes occur, with wind, rain, and sleet. They begin their ploughing in the latter end of September, and sow their early wheat by the middle of October. And this is often the case in England itself. The meaning of the proverb is: the slothful man, under the pretense of unfavorable weather, neglects cultivating his land till the proper time is elapsed.

    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.

    Verse page →Original language →