Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.