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Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024
the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Updated Bible Version

Ecclesiastes 10:18

By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Idleness;   Slothfulness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Business Life;   Family;   Home;   Slothfulness;   Trouble;   Vices;   The Topic Concordance - Laziness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Idleness and Sloth;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Work;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Idle;   Poetry;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;   House;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Decay;   Drop, Dropping;   Idle;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Didascalia;   Euphemism;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 17;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Through indolence the beams sag, and through slack hands the house leaks.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thorowe slouthfulnesse the balkes fall downe, and thorowe idle handes it rayneth in at the house.
Darby Translation
By much sloth fulness the framework falleth in; and through idleness of the hands the house drippeth.
New King James Version
Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks.
Literal Translation
The framework tumbles through laziness; and through lowering of hands, the house leaks.
Easy-to-Read Version
If someone is too lazy to work, their house will begin to leak, and the roof will fall in.
World English Bible
By slothfulness the roof sinks in; And through idleness of the hands the house leaks.
King James Version (1611)
By much slouthfulnesse the building decayeth; and through idlenesse of the hands the house droppeth through.
King James Version
By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thorow slouthfulnesse the balkes fall downe, and thorow ydle hades it rayneth in at the house.
THE MESSAGE
A shiftless man lives in a tumbledown shack; A lazy woman ends up with a leaky roof.
Amplified Bible
Through laziness the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sags, and through idleness [the roof of] the house leaks.
American Standard Version
By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.
Bible in Basic English
When no work is done the roof goes in, and when the hands do nothing water comes into the house.
Webster's Bible Translation
By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
New English Translation
Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of idle hands the house leaks.
Contemporary English Version
Some people are too lazy to fix a leaky roof— then the house falls in.
Complete Jewish Bible
When the owner is lazy, the roof sags; when hands are idle, the house leaks.
Geneva Bible (1587)
By slouthfulnes the roofe of the house goeth to decaie, and by the ydlenesse of the handes the house droppeth through.
George Lamsa Translation
By slothfulness a roof shall be brought down; and through idleness of hands water drips through.
Hebrew Names Version
By slothfulness the roof sinks in; And through idleness of the hands the house leaks.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
By slothfulness the rafters sink in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.
New Living Translation
Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.
New Life Bible
When men are lazy, the roof begins to fall in. When they will do no work, the rain comes into the house.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
By slothful neglect a building will be brought low: and by idleness of the hands the house will fall to pieces.
English Revised Version
By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.
Berean Standard Bible
Through laziness the roof caves in, and in the hands of the idle, the house leaks.
New Revised Standard
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
By two lazy arms, the framework sinketh in, - and, by the hanging down of the hands, the house may leak.
Douay-Rheims Bible
By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.
Lexham English Bible
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through idleness of hands the house leaks.
English Standard Version
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.
New American Standard Bible
Through extreme laziness the rafters sag, and through idleness the house leaks.
New Century Version
If someone is lazy, the roof will begin to fall. If he doesn't fix it, the house will leak.
Good News Translation
When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.
Christian Standard Bible®
Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of negligent hands the house leaks.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The hiynesse of housis schal be maad low in slouthis; and the hous schal droppe in the feblenesse of hondis.
Revised Standard Version
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.
Young's Literal Translation
By slothfulness is the wall brought low, And by idleness of the hands doth the house drop.

Contextual Overview

16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning! 17 You are happy, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, and your princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! 18 By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes glad the life; and money answers all things. 20 Don't revile the king, no, not in your thought; and don't revile the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the heavens shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 12:24, Proverbs 14:1, Proverbs 20:4, Proverbs 21:25, Proverbs 23:21, Proverbs 24:30, Proverbs 24:31, Hebrews 6:11, 2 Peter 1:5-10

Reciprocal: Proverbs 10:4 - becometh Amos 6:11 - breaches

Cross-References

Genesis 10:16
and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,
Genesis 10:17
and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
Numbers 34:8
from mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad;
Joshua 18:22
and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,
2 Samuel 8:9
And when Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
2 Kings 17:24
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
2 Kings 17:30
And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
2 Chronicles 13:4
And Abijah stood up on mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel:
Isaiah 10:9
Isn't Calno as Carchemish? isn't Hamath as Arpad? isn't Samaria as Damascus?
Ezekiel 27:8
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers: your wise men, O Tyre, were in you, they were your pilots.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

By much slothfulness the building decayeth,.... Or, "by slothfulnesses" g, The word is in the dual number, and so may signify the slothfulness of the hands, as Aben Ezra, of both hands, and of both feet; or the various kinds of slothfulness, as the Arabic version, slothfulness both of body and mind; or of all sorts of persons, superiors and inferiors, princes and subjects; and with respect to all things present and future: and, as through slothfulness a material building decays; or a "beam", as the word signifies, the raftering of a house, the roof, which consists of rafters and beams joined together when the tiling is decayed by winds and rains, or any breaches made in the rafters, and no care taken to repair, the whole falls in, and the house is in ruins: so figurative buildings, families, churches, and kingdoms, come to nothing, through the sluggishness of masters of families, ministers of the word, and civil magistrates; to the latter of which more especially this is to be applied, who give up themselves to luxury and sloth;

and, through idleness of the hands, the house droppeth through; or, "through the letting" or "hanging down of the hands" h; the remissness of them, as is to be observed in idle persons, who will not lift them up to work; particularly to repair a breach in a house, by means of which the rain drops through it, and makes it uncomfortable and unsafe being in it; and, in process of time, that itself drops to the ground: and this expresses the same thing, how, through the neglect of the civil magistrate, a commonwealth comes to nothing; or, however, the members of it become wretched and miserable.

g בעצלתים "in pigritiis", Montanus; "per duplicem pigritiam", Tigurine version; "pigritia amborum", Junius Tremellius. h בשקלות "per remissionem", Tigurine version "demissione", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus so Cocceius, Rambachius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Foolish rulers, by their weakness, self-indulgence and sloth, bring decay upon the state: nobleness and temperance insure prosperity: yet the subject must not rebel in word or thought against his king.

Ecclesiastes 10:16

A child - Rather, young. The word is applied to Rehoboam 2 Chronicles 13:7 at the time of his accession to the throne, when he was 41 years old.

Eat in the morning - A sign of intemperance (compare Isaiah 5:11).

Ecclesiastes 10:17

Son of nobles - i. e., of a noble disposition.

Ecclesiastes 10:18

The “building” or “house” represents the state. Compare Isaiah 3:6; Amos 9:10.

Droppeth through - i. e., Lets the rain through the roof.

Ecclesiastes 10:19

literally, For merriment they make a feast (bread), and wine gladdens the living, and money supplies all things.

Ecclesiastes 10:20

Curse - Compare Ecclesiastes 7:21-22.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 18. By much slothfulness — This is remarkably the case in some countries. Houses are not repaired till they almost fall about the ears of the inhabitants. We have an adage that applies to all such cases: "A stitch in time saves nine."


 
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