And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.
- BSB Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down.
- NKJV And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.
- NASB And behold, it was completely overgrown with weeds; Its surface was covered with weeds, And its stone wall was broken down.
- NLT I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.
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 neglected field was overgrown with thorns and its wall broken down. Idleness produces visible ruin.
Overview
The thorns, nettles, and collapsed wall picture the inevitable decay that follows neglect, since what is not tended falls apart. Thorns recall the curse of the ground after the fall (Gen 3:18), portraying sloth as a surrender to disorder. The scene warns that spiritual and practical responsibilities, like a vineyard, require ongoing care.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 5:5And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
- Eccl 10:18By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
- Matt 13:22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
- Jer 4:3For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
- Prov 22:13The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
- Prov 19:23The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
- Prov 20:4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Job 31:40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
- Heb 6:8But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
- Gen 3:17–19And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
- Matt 13:7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
- Prov 23:21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
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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 24:31 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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