He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
Parallel translations
- KJV He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
- BSB Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
- NKJV He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
- NASB Poor is one who works with a lazy hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
- NLT Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A lazy hand brings poverty, but the diligent hand brings wealth. Hard work tends toward provision; laziness toward want.
Overview
This proverb commends diligence and warns against slothfulness, reflecting God's design that honest labor generally yields provision. It is a wise generalization, not a denial that other factors affect outcomes. Scripture honors diligent work as part of godly living, and the New Testament urges believers to work heartily as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 20:4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Prov 13:4The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Prov 21:5The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
- Prov 19:15Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Prov 12:24The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
- Prov 6:6–11Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
- Prov 11:24There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
- Prov 19:24The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
- Prov 20:13Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Prov 24:30–34I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
- 2 Pet 1:5–10Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
- John 6:27Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
- Heb 6:11–12We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
- Eccl 10:18By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 10:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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