idle time

¹⁵Laziness sends one into a deep sleep, and a dissolute soul will go hungry.

¹³And being at the same time also idle, they learn to go from house to house, being not only idle, but also talkative and curious, speaking of things which do not concern them.

¹⁵And so, brothers, see to it that you walk cautiously, not like the foolish, ¹⁶but like the wise: atoning for this age, because this is an evil time.

²⁷She has considered the paths of her household, and she has not eaten her bread in idleness.

¹⁰Then, too, while we were with you, we insisted on this to you: that if anyone was not willing to work, neither should he eat. ¹¹For we have heard that there are some among you who act disruptively, not working at all, but eagerly meddling. ¹²Now we charge those who act in this way, and we beg them in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they work in silence and eat their own bread.

³⁶But I say to you, that for every idle word which men will have spoken, they shall render an account in the day of judgment.

²⁴The hand of the strong will rule. But anyone who is neglectful will pay tribute.

¹¹Whoever works his land shall be satisfied with bread. But whoever continually pursues leisure is most foolish. Whoever is soothed by lingering over wine leaves behind contempt in his strongholds.

³⁰I passed by the field of a lazy man, and by the vineyard of a foolish man, ³¹and behold, it was entirely filled with nettles, and thorns had covered its surface, and the stonewall was destroyed. ³²When I had seen this, I laid it up in my heart, and by this example, I received discipline. ³³You will sleep a little,” I said. “You will slumber briefly. You will fold your hands a little, so as to rest. ³⁴And destitution will overtake you like a runner, and begging will overtake you like an armed man.”

⁶Go to the ant, you lazy one, and consider her ways, and so learn wisdom. ⁷For though she has no ruler, nor instructor, nor leader, ⁸she provides meals for herself in the summer, and she gathers at the harvest what she may eat. ⁹How long will you slumber, you lazy one? When will you rise up from your sleep? ¹⁰You will sleep a little, you will slumber a little, you will fold your hands a little to sleep, ¹¹and then destitution will meet with you, like a traveler, and poverty, like an armed man. Yet truly, if you would be diligent, then your harvest will arrive like a fountain, and destitution will flee far from you.

¹⁸By laziness, a framework shall be brought down, and by the weakness of hands, a house shall collapse through.

²³In every work, there shall be abundance. But where there are many words, there is often need.

⁹Whoever is dissolute and slack in his work is the brother of him who wastes his own works.

¹⁴But let our men also learn to excel in good works pertaining to the necessities of life, so that they may not be unfruitful.

¹²A certain one of these, a prophet of their own kind, said: “The Cretans are ever liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹⁰Just as each of you has received grace, minister in the same way to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.