Bible Strands
Proverbs 3:28
Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom instruction addresses a learner, contrasting immediate obedience with delayed compliance in everyday material dealings.
The words — תֹּ֘אמַ֤ר (to.Mar) translates literally as "you say," while וְ/יֵ֣שׁ (ve./Yesh) means "and there is," framing the verse around the gap between verbal promise and existing provision.
The thread — This prohibition against withholding available resources runs through Leviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:12, and 2 Corinthians 8:11, which repeatedly command timely provision and warn against defrauding or delaying others.
Why it lands — The text commands immediate action when resources are already available, rejecting procrastination as a practical form of withholding good from those who depend on you.
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
Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 19:13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
- Deuteronomy 24:12 If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;
- 2 Corinthians 8:11 Now finish the work, so that you may complete it with the same eager desire, according to your means.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- 1 Timothy 6:18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,
- 2 Corinthians 9:3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove empty, but that you will be prepared, just as I said.
- Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.