Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, October 17th, 2024
the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Proverbs 20:4

The sluggard will not plow during the planting season, so at harvest time he looks for the crop but has nothing.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Beggars;   Idleness;   Slothfulness;   Winter;   Thompson Chain Reference - Abundance-Want;   Beggars;   Cold, the;   Meteorology;   Sluggard, the;   Want;   The Topic Concordance - Desire;   Harvest;   Laziness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Idleness and Sloth;   Ploughing;   Winter;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hedge;   Thorn;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Harvest;   Proverbs, Book of;   Slothful;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cold;   Harvest;   Plow;   Seasons;   Sluggard;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest.
Update Bible Version
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
New Century Version
Lazy farmers don't plow when they should; they expect a harvest, but there is none.
Webster's Bible Translation
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; [therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing.
World English Bible
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Amplified Bible
The lazy man does not plow when the winter [planting] season arrives; So he begs at the [next] harvest and has nothing [to reap].
English Standard Version
The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A slow man nolde ere for coold; therfor he schal begge in somer, and me schal not yyue to hym.
English Revised Version
The slothful will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Berean Standard Bible
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
Contemporary English Version
If you are too lazy to plow, don't expect a harvest.
American Standard Version
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Bible in Basic English
The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing.
Complete Jewish Bible
A lazy person won't plow in winter; so at harvest-time, when he looks, there is nothing.
Darby Translation
The sluggard will not plough by reason of the winter; he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Easy-to-Read Version
Some people are too lazy to plant seeds. So at harvest time, they look for food and find nothing.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The sluggard will not plow when winter setteth in; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
King James Version (1611)
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he begge in haruest, and haue nothing.
New Life Bible
The lazy man does not plow before winter. So he begs during gathering time and has nothing.
New Revised Standard
The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The slouthfull will not plowe, because of winter: therefore shal he beg in sommer, but haue nothing.
George Lamsa Translation
The lazy man is reproached and he will not cease from talking; therefore he shall beg during harvest but will not receive even water.
Good News Translation
A farmer too lazy to plow his fields at the right time will have nothing to harvest.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
By reason of the autumn, a sluggard will not plough, therefore shall he beg in harvest, and there be nothing.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him.
Revised Standard Version
The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A slouthfull body wyll not go to plow for colde of the winter: therefore shall he begge in sommer, and haue nothing.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A sluggard when reproached is not ashamed: so also he who borrows corn in harvest.
Christian Standard Bible®
The slacker does not plow during planting season;at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.
Hebrew Names Version
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
King James Version
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Lexham English Bible
The lazy person will not plow in season; he will expect at the harvest, but there will be nothing.
Literal Translation
The lazy man will not plow, after autumn he begs at harvest, and nothing is there.
Young's Literal Translation
Because of winter the slothful plougheth not, He asketh in harvest, and there is nothing.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A slouthfull body wyl not go to plowe for colde, therfore shal he go abegginge in Sommer, and haue nothinge.
THE MESSAGE
A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.
New American Standard Bible
The lazy one does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
New King James Version
The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
Legacy Standard Bible
The sluggard does not plow from winter on,So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

Contextual Overview

4 The sluggard will not plow during the planting season, so at harvest time he looks for the crop but has nothing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sluggard: Proverbs 10:4, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 19:24, Proverbs 26:13-16

cold: or, winter

therefore: Proverbs 6:10, Proverbs 6:11, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 24:34, Matthew 25:3-10, Matthew 25:24-28, 2 Peter 1:5-11

Reciprocal: Exodus 16:27 - and they found none Proverbs 6:6 - thou Proverbs 21:25 - General Proverbs 24:31 - and the Ecclesiastes 4:5 - fool Ecclesiastes 10:18 - General Ecclesiastes 11:4 - General Luke 16:3 - to beg 2 Thessalonians 3:10 - that

Cross-References

Genesis 19:24
Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord .
Genesis 20:6
Then in the dream God replied to him, "Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her.
Genesis 20:17
Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
Genesis 20:18
For the Lord had caused infertility to strike every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham's wife.
2 Samuel 4:11
Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth?"
1 Chronicles 21:17
David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep—what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold,.... Or, "in the cold"; in the time of cold, as Aben Ezra; in the time of autumn, which is the time of ploughing, when it begins to be cold weather, and winter is drawing on: and this is discouraging to the sluggard, who does not care to take his hands out of his bosom to feed himself, and much less to plough; see Proverbs 19:24;

[therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing; he shall ask of those who have ploughed and sowed, and are now reaping and gathering in their increase at harvest time; but they shall give him nothing; for such as will not work should not eat; and if a man will not plough and sow, he cannot expect to reap, nor should he be encouraged in begging. This holds good in spiritual things; such who have been slothful and sluggish about their spiritual affairs, unconcerned for the grace of God, and indolent in the use of means, or performance of duty, will ask when too late, or of wrong persons, and shall not have it; as the foolish virgins ask oil of the wise, when the bridegroom is come; and the rich man for water from Abraham, when in hell, Matthew 25:8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Plowing time in Palestine is in November and December, when the wind blows commonly from the North.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 20:4. The sluggard will not plough — For other parts of this character, see the preceding chapter. It is seldom that there is a season of very cold weather in Palestine; very cold days sometimes occur, with wind, rain, and sleet. They begin their ploughing in the latter end of September, and sow their early wheat by the middle of October. And this is often the case in England itself. The meaning of the proverb is: the slothful man, under the pretence of unfavourable weather, neglects cultivating his land till the proper time is elapsed.


 
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