What Does the Bible Say About Work Ethic?

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 295 helpful votes

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

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 204 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.

Proverbs 14:23 ESV / 130 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 16:3 ESV / 86 helpful votes

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 10:4 ESV / 85 helpful votes

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

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV / 83 helpful votes

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 76 helpful votes

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Proverbs 12:11 ESV / 62 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 21:25 ESV / 60 helpful votes

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

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 50 helpful votes

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

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 41 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.

Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 36 helpful votes

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

Psalm 128:2 ESV / 30 helpful votes

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 ESV / 27 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. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.

Psalm 1:1-6 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ...

Proverbs 22:29 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Psalm 127:1 ESV / 26 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 18 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.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 16 helpful votes

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

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 15 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.

Genesis 2:1-25 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ...

Proverbs 20:4 ESV / 14 helpful votes

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

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV / 13 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.

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV / 12 helpful votes

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Proverbs 20:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 16:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 11:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

Hebrews 4:10 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Hosea 14:9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV / 11 helpful votes

You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

James 1:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Colossians 3:17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Isaiah 49:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.”

1 Timothy 5:18 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

1 Timothy 5:13-14 ESV / 8 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. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.

1 Thessalonians 5:7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Proverbs 30:15 ESV / 7 helpful votes

The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”:

Proverbs 27:18 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.

1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

Psalm 127:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

45 Bible Verses about Work Ethic