The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.” Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Anxiety weighs down the heart of a man, but a good word cheers it up.

While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning.

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

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.

He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.

There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.

But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.

And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began, according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. It is not our intention that others may be relieved while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. Then there will be equality.

Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.

He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’”

So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.

You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons.

He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” . . .

Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,

For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!

He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.

The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”

I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment. Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down. I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.

“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil. But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ . . .

The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”

“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men, because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand. . . .

“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?

For no word from God will ever fail.”

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

“I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, . . .

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows. But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”

He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

“We have sinned against the LORD,” you replied. “We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God has commanded us.” Then each of you put on his weapons of war, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,

Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. . . .

My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.