Bible Verses About Idleness: General references

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:

And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

The slothful hand hath wrought poverty: but the hand of the industrious getteth riches. He that trusteth to lies feedeth the winds: and the same runneth after birds, that fly away.

He that gathereth in the harvest, is a wise son: but he that snorteth in the summer, is the son of confusion.

I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man:

And behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.

Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to rest.

And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as an armed man.

The slothful man saith: There is a lion in the way, and a lioness in the roads.

As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.

The slothful hideth his hand under his armpit, and it grieveth him to turn it to his mouth.

The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit, than seven men that speak sentences.

But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle?

They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go ye also into my vineyard.

And another came, saying: Lord, behold here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin.

For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down: and thou reapest that which thou didst not sow.

He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down and reaping that which I did not sow.

And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it with usury?

And he said to them that stood by: Take the pound away from him and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

And they said to him: Lord, he hath ten pounds.

For also, when we were with you, this we declared to you: that, if any man will not work, neither let him eat.

For we have heard there are some among you who walk disorderly: working not at all, but curiously meddling.