What Does the Bible Say About Work Hard?

Proverbs 21:5 ESV / 55 helpful votes

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 21 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 10:4 ESV / 17 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

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

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 10 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.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 10 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.’”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV / 10 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.

Titus 2:9-12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

1 Thessalonians 4:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

Colossians 3:20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Proverbs 22:29 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 20:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 18:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 14:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 12:24 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 12:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 6:6-8 ESV / 5 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.

James 1:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Hebrews 7:1-4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!

Ephesians 6:6-7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

Luke 6:38 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Proverbs 24:27 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

1 Peter 4:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Colossians 4:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Colossians 3:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Romans 12:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Luke 10:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 ESV / 3 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.

Proverbs 28:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV / 3 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 13:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

Proverbs 12:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 2 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.

Ephesians 6:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians 5:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 2 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.

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,

Proverbs 21:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV / 2 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, ...

Jude 1:24 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

1 John 4:19 ESV / 1 helpful vote

We love because he first loved us.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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

1 Timothy 6:6 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment,

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV / 1 helpful vote

(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

1 Timothy 5:18 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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

Philippians 4:7 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:20 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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,

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ...

Romans 10:9 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Luke 3:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Mark 6:1-56 ESV / 1 helpful vote

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ...

Matthew 25:40 ESV / 1 helpful vote

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:14-30 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ...

Matthew 23:23 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Matthew 22:21 ESV / 1 helpful vote

They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

Habakkuk 2:15 ESV / 1 helpful vote

“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!

Ecclesiastes 1:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Proverbs 20:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Psalm 127:2 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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.

Joshua 1:8 ESV / 1 helpful vote

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Deuteronomy 10:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 1 helpful vote

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

68 Bible Verses about Work Hard