Sermon Tone Analysis

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

There is a lion in the streets!” 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.

15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

Then he went away.

16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’

21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master.’

22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’

23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master.’

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.

Here, you have what is yours.’

26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant!

You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.

9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

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

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

Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

Pericopes

16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.

18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

21 “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.

26 If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep?

And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

29 “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.

The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.

30 You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me. 31 “You shall be consecrated to me.

Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

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

He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

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

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

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

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

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

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

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

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

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

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

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

26 All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

I shall be killed in the streets!”

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.

33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

There is a lion in the streets!”

As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

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

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

4 Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor.

This also is vanity and a striving after wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

6 Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?”

This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.

15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.

Yet no one remembered that poor man.

16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. 1 Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.

3 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.