KJV ORIGINAL
He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
A person who works carelessly or lazily becomes poor, but someone who works hard and diligently becomes wealthy.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
This verse is teaching that lazy work leads to poverty, while hard work leads to prosperity.
📚 Historical Context
This proverb comes from a collection of Solomon's wise sayings, written during Israel's golden age around 950 BC. In ancient agricultural society, daily survival depended heavily on consistent, diligent work - whether farming, crafting, or trading. The contrast between the 'slack hand' and 'diligent hand' would have been immediately understood by people whose livelihood required regular, careful labor.
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