Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
Parallel translations
- WEB Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- BSB Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
- NKJV Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.
- NASB Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And a lazy person will suffer hunger.
- NLT Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.
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 leads to deep sleep and hunger. Idleness brings poverty and want.
Overview
This proverb warns that slothfulness induces a 'deep sleep,' a spiritual and practical stupor, and that the idle person goes hungry. It underscores the link between diligence and provision that runs throughout Proverbs (cf. 6:9-11). Scripture dignifies honest work and warns against idleness (2 Thess. 3:10), calling believers to faithful labor as good stewards under God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 23:21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
- Prov 20:13Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
- 2 Th 3:10For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
- Prov 6:9–10How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
- Prov 24:33Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
- Rom 13:11–12And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
- Prov 10:4–5He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
- Eph 5:14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
- Isa 56:10His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Prov 19:24A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
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 19:15 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.