What Does the Bible Say About Unwillingness To Work?

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 6 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 13:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

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

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 3 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.

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.

John 3:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Proverbs 12:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

1 John 3:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

1 Peter 4:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ...

1 Peter 2:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

Hebrews 12:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Titus 1:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV / 2 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.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? ...

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:7-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

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.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 2 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.’”

Acts 20:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 2 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.

Acts 14:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Mark 16:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Matthew 1:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ...

Zechariah 7:1-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? ...

Proverbs 28:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV / 2 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 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 20:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 18:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 13:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 13:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

Proverbs 13:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. ...

Proverbs 12:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 12:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Proverbs 6:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ...

Psalm 37:18-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

43 Bible Verses about Unwillingness To Work

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 12:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 John 3:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 4:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 2:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Peter 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Titus 1:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 6:7-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 20:35 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 20:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 14:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 16:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 1:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Zechariah 7:1-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 28:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 27:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 21:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 20:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 18:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 12:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 12:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 6:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 37:18-19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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