There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Parallel translations
- WEB In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.
- KJV In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
- NKJV In all labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty.
- NASB In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.
- NLT Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!
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
Hard work yields profit, but mere talk leads to poverty. Diligence, not chatter, produces results.
Overview
This proverb contrasts genuine labor, which bears fruit, with empty talk, which produces only lack. It commends industriousness and warns against substituting words for work. Scripture consistently honors faithful labor and warns against idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:10), while keeping all work in service to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 28:19The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- Prov 12:24The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
- 2 Th 3:10–12For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”
- Heb 6:10–11For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Eccl 5:3As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
- John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
- 1 Tim 5:13At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.
- Prov 10:10He who winks the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will come to ruin.
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 14:23 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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