Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:13
Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wisdom teacher addresses a listener with a direct warning about the practical consequences of excessive sleep. The words — The Hebrew terms šēnâ (sleep) and ‘êneykâ (your eyes) frame the contrast between passive rest and active vigilance, while tiḇāreš (you will become impoverished) and sāba‘ (be satisfied) establish the economic outcome of each choice. The thread — This warning echoes the cause-and-effect pattern of Proverbs 19:15 and Proverbs 10:4, while the call to sustained activity anticipates the exhortation in Romans 12:11. Why it lands — The text demands immediate practical vigilance by linking the refusal to stay awake with material lack and the act of opening one’s eyes with sufficient provision.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 19:15 Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
- Romans 12:11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Proverbs 10:4 Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
- Proverbs 12:11 The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
- Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Proverbs 6:9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
- Proverbs 13:4 The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
- Jonah 1:6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Ephesians 5:14 So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”