Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Parallel translations
- WEB a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;
- BSB A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
- ESV A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
- NKJV A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest;
- NASB “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”
- NLT A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
A little more sleep, a little more rest, this is the sluggard's refrain. Small indulgences compound into ruin.
Overview
Repeating the warning of Proverbs 6:10, the verse mimics the soothing, self-justifying voice of laziness that always asks for just a little more. The danger lies not in rest itself but in the steady drift of repeated delay. It exposes how seemingly minor choices accumulate into great loss.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Th 5:6–8Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
- Prov 6:4–11Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
- Rom 13:11And 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.
- Eph 5:14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
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 24:33 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.