He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Parallel translations
- WEB He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
- 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 cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Prov 13:4The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
- Prov 21:5The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
- Prov 19:15Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Prov 12:24The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.
- Prov 6:6–11Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
- Prov 11:24There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
- Prov 19:24A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
- Prov 20:13Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
- Prov 24:30–34I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
- 2 Pet 1:5–10And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
- John 6:27Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
- Heb 6:11–12And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
- Eccl 10:18By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
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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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