Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.
Parallel translations
- WEB The slothful man doesn’t roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.
- KJV The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.
- BSB A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.
- NKJV The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.
- NASB A lazy person does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a person is diligence.
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
The lazy man fails even to roast the game he caught, but the diligent treasure their possessions. Sloth wastes what it has, while diligence values and uses it well.
Overview
This proverb pictures the sluggard who will not even finish preparing what he has hunted, in contrast to the diligent who prize and steward their possessions. It exposes how laziness squanders opportunity. The lesson commends the faithful diligence God honors in those who steward His gifts well.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 13:4The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Prov 26:15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
- Ps 37:16Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.
- Prov 15:16Better is little, with the fear of Yahweh, than great treasure with trouble.
- Prov 23:2put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.
- Prov 16:8Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.
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 12:27 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.