Working Hard and the Warning Against Laziness
Proverbs 6:6-11 · Berean Standard Bible
Proverbs 6:6-11 is the Bible's sharpest teaching on hard work versus laziness: 'Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!' The ant stores up its food with no overseer, while the sluggard's 'little sleep, a little slumber' invites poverty like an armed robber. It commends diligence and self-motivation as the path away from want.
6Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
7Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
8it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
9How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
Read the wider context: Proverbs 6.
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- The One Unwilling to Work Shall Not Eat — 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12
- Be Strong and Courageous in Your New Season — Joshua 1:6-9
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