100 Bible Verses about Sloth

Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 234 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 12:24 ESV / 138 helpful votes

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

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 130 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 101 helpful votes

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Proverbs 15:19 ESV / 83 helpful votes

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

Ecclesiastes 10:18 ESV / 74 helpful votes

Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV / 69 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 21:25-26 ESV / 65 helpful votes

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Romans 12:11 ESV / 64 helpful votes

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Proverbs 19:15 ESV / 56 helpful votes

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

Matthew 25:26 ESV / 52 helpful votes

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?

Proverbs 18:9 ESV / 41 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 21:25 ESV / 39 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 20:13 ESV / 37 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 20:4 ESV / 37 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 10:4 ESV / 37 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 6:6-8 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

Proverbs 22:13 ESV / 33 helpful votes

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”

Proverbs 6:6 ESV / 33 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 6:9 ESV / 32 helpful votes

How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 27 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Proverbs 19:24 ESV / 26 helpful votes

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

Isaiah 56:10 ESV / 25 helpful votes

His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

Proverbs 26:16 ESV / 25 helpful votes

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

Proverbs 12:27 ESV / 25 helpful votes

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

1 Timothy 5:13 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 23 helpful votes

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.

Hebrews 6:12 ESV / 22 helpful votes

So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Proverbs 24:34 ESV / 22 helpful votes

And poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 10:26 ESV / 22 helpful votes

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

2 Thessalonians 3:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.

Proverbs 24:30 ESV / 21 helpful votes

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,

Proverbs 12:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes

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

Acts 17:21 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Proverbs 31:27 ESV / 18 helpful votes

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 26:14 ESV / 18 helpful votes

As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.

Proverbs 26:13-16 ESV / 18 helpful votes

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

Proverbs 24:30-31 ESV / 16 helpful votes

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

Proverbs 24:30-32 ESV / 16 helpful votes

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.

Proverbs 26:15 ESV / 15 helpful votes

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

Matthew 25:18 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Proverbs 10:4-5 ESV / 14 helpful votes

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Judges 18:9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 11 helpful votes

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

James 2:26 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Proverbs 26:13 ESV / 10 helpful votes

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!”

Luke 1:37 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

2 Thessalonians 3:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ...

1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. ...

Romans 12:11-13 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Acts 17:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Colossians 4:1-7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ...

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Galatians 6:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

John 10:10 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 8:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Proverbs 23:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

1 John 4:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Titus 1:12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 4 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

John 13:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

Proverbs 3:27-28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

Esther 5:1-14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. ...

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Philippians 4:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Romans 8:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 3:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 15:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

John 14:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 8:32 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Luke 1:39 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Revelation 3:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Colossians 4:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ...

Colossians 3:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

Colossians 1:1-29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ...

Philippians 4:11-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Ephesians 3:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Galatians 5:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 8:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 1:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Acts 2:38 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:33 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 14:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

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