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100 Bible Verses about Not Working

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV / 108 helpful votes

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 104 helpful votes

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 69 helpful votes

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

2 Thessalonians 3:12-16 ESV / 65 helpful votes

Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 39 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Proverbs 14:23 ESV / 34 helpful votes

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Colossians 3:23-24 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Hebrews 12:14 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Proverbs 13:4 ESV / 26 helpful votes

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 ESV / 25 helpful votes

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Proverbs 24:33-34 ESV / 24 helpful votes

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 12:11 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 23 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 12:24 ESV / 23 helpful votes

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

Genesis 2:15 ESV / 22 helpful votes

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Proverbs 16:3 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 18 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

John 5:17 ESV / 18 helpful votes

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Psalm 90:17 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Acts 20:35 ESV / 15 helpful votes

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Proverbs 18:9-10 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

Proverbs 13:11 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

Revelation 11:1-19 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ...

John 6:27 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 ESV / 14 helpful votes

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV / 14 helpful votes

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; 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 want like an armed man.

Proverbs 18:9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 13 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Colossians 3:17 ESV / 13 helpful votes

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Let all that you do be done in love.

Matthew 11:28 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

Proverbs 21:25 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

Proverbs 20:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

Deuteronomy 24:14 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.

Exodus 35:2 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Psalm 127:1-2 ESV / 10 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Genesis 3:17-19 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 2:3 ESV / 10 helpful votes

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Hebrews 6:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

2 Timothy 2:6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

Colossians 3:22-24 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Galatians 6:4-5 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Proverbs 21:5 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Proverbs 10:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Exodus 20:9 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,

Exodus 20:8-11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Genesis 50:20 ESV / 9 helpful votes

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

James 5:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

Colossians 2:16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Proverbs 6:6-8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

Esther 5:1-14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. ...

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 7 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

Colossians 3:3 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

1 Corinthians 15:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

1 Corinthians 9:6 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?

1 Corinthians 4:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;

Proverbs 12:11-12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

Psalm 128:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

Hebrews 4:9-10 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Ecclesiastes 3:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Colossians 3:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Ezekiel 18:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Deuteronomy 15:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.

Genesis 2:1-25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ...

James 3:1-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ...

2 Thessalonians 3:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Colossians 1:28-29 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

1 Corinthians 16:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

John 6:27-29 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Luke 10:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Revelation 2:2-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

Titus 2:7-8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Colossians 2:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:12-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Romans 14:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Romans 12:11-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Luke 18:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Mark 2:23-28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ...

Matthew 20:1-16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ...

Matthew 19:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

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