Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no
commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in
summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will
you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up
from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest--and
poverty will come on you like a
bandit and scarcity like
an armed man.
Proverbs 6: 6 - 11
Music playing is
Refiner's Fire
Composed by Brian Doerksen in 1990
The Diligent: become rich
The Lazy: are soon poor
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Proverbs 10:4
The Diligent: gather crops early
The Lazy: sleep during harvest
He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
Proverbs 10:5
The Lazy: are an annoyance
As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so is a sluggard to those who send him.
Proverbs 10:26
The Diligent: have abundant food
The Lazy: chase fantasies
He who works his land will have abundant food,
but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.
Proverbs 12:11
The Diligent: hard work returns rewards
From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.
Proverbs 12:14
The Diligent: will rule
The Lazy: will become slaves
Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
Proverbs 12:24
The Diligent: prize their possessions
The Lazy: waste good resources
The lazy man does not roast his game,
but the diligent man prizes his possessions.
Proverbs 12:27
The Diligent: are fully satisfied
The Lazy: want much but get little
The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
Proverbs 13:4
The Diligent: bring profit
The Lazy: are all talk but no action
All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 14:23
The Diligent: have an easy path
The Lazy: have trouble all through life
The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway.
Proverbs 15:19
The Lazy: are like those who destroy
One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
Proverbs 18:9
The Lazy: go hungry
Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.
Proverbs 19:15
The Lazy: won't feed themselves
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth!
Proverbs 19:24
The Lazy: won't plow in season
A sluggard does not plow in season;
so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
Proverbs 20:4
The Diligent: stay awake and have food to spare
The Lazy: love sleep and grow poor
Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;
stay awake and you will have food to spare.
Proverbs 20:13
The Diligent: make careful plans
The Lazy: make hasty speculations
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as
surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5
The Lazy: love pleasure and become poor
He who loves pleasure will become poor;
whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.
Proverbs 21:17
The Diligent: give without sparing
The Lazy: desire things but refuse to work for them
The sluggard's craving will be the death of him,
because his hands refuse to work. All day
long he craves for more, but the
righteous give without
sparing.
Proverbs 21:25 - 26
The Lazy: are full of excuses for not working
The sluggard says,
There is a lion outside!
or,I will be murdered in the streets!
Proverbs 22:13
The Diligent: will serve before kings
Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will serve before kings; he
will not serve before
obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29
The Lazy: sleep too much, which leads to poverty
I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard
of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up
everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my
heart to what I observed and learned a
lesson from what I saw: A little sleep,
a little slumber, a little folding of
the hands to rest-and poverty
will come on you like a
bandit and scarcity
like an armed
man.
Proverbs 24:30 - 34
The Diligent: reap abundance through hard work
The Lazy: experience poverty because of laziness
He who works his land will have abundant food,
but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
Proverbs 28:19
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