Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.
Parallel translations
- WEB One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
- KJV He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
- NKJV He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.
- NASB He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.
- NLT A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.
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
Laziness in one's work is as ruinous as deliberate destruction. The slacker is kin to the wrecker.
Overview
This striking proverb equates the one who is slack in his work with a 'master of destruction,' for negligence wastes and ruins just as surely as active harm. It dignifies diligent labor and warns that idleness is not harmless but destructive. Scripture commends faithful work as service to God (Col. 3:23), and the believer labors heartily, redeemed by Christ to good works (Eph. 2:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 10:4Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
- Heb 6:12Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
- Prov 24:30–34I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
- Prov 23:20–21Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
- Rom 12:11Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Prov 28:24He who robs his father or mother, saying, “It is not wrong,” is a companion to the man who destroys.
- Matt 25:26‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
- Luke 15:13–14After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.
- Luke 16:1–2Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
- Job 30:29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
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 18:9 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.