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7. Concerning Slothfulness and the Love of Sleep

The sluggard will not plow because of winter, therefore he will beg in harvest and have nothing. Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty; open your eyes, and be satisfied with bread (20:4, 13). The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!" (22:13). The drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags (23:21). Proverbs 24:30-34 says, "I passed by the field of the sluggard,/And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense;/And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;/Its surface was covered with nettles,/And its stone wall was broken down./When I looked, I considered it;/I saw it and received instruction:/A little sleep, a little slumber,/A little folding of the hands to rest,/And your poverty will come upon you like a robber,/And your want, like an armed man." The sluggard says, "There is a roaring lion on the way; a lion is in the streets!" As the door turns upon its hinges, so does the sluggard upon his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he gets weary by bringing it to his mouth again. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer discreetly (26:13-16). The desire of the sluggard puts him to death, for his hands refuse to work (21:25).

8. Concerning Becoming a Surety

Proverbs 20:16 says, "Take his garment when he becomes a surety for a stranger, and hold the pledge when he becomes surety for foreigners." Do not be one of those who give their hand as a pledge, or one of those who are a surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken away from under you? (22:26-27). Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, and hold one in pledge who is surety for a foreign woman (27:13).

9. Concerning the Mouth and Tongue

Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles (21:23). He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who opens his lips wide (20:19). Proverbs 29:20 says, "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?/There is more hope for a fool than for him." It is a snare to a man to rashly say, "It is holy," and after making the vows to begin to consider (20:25).


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Life-Study of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs   pg 26