25 Bible Verses About Lazy People (ESV)

10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

4   A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

4   The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
    while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

9   How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10   A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11   and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

24   The sluggard buries his hand in the dish
    and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

4   The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
    he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

24   The hand of the diligent will rule,
    while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

6   Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.

19   Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
    but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

17   For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.

23   In all toil there is profit,
    but mere talk tends only to poverty.

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

5   He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
    but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

13:1   A wise son hears his father’s instruction,
    but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

15   Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep,
    and an idle person will suffer hunger.

9   Whoever is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.

26   Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him.

19   The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,
    but the path of the upright is a level highway.

14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

25   The desire of the sluggard kills him,
    for his hands refuse to labor.

27   Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,
    but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

30   I passed by the field of a sluggard,
    by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
31   and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
    the ground was covered with nettles,
    and its stone wall was broken down.
32   Then I saw and considered it;
    I looked and received instruction.
33   A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
34   and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

13   Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;
    open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.