Ecclesiastes 4:5

I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.

The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.

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

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone is not willing to work, don’t let him eat.”

When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”

One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:

When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight. You shall eat, and not be satisfied.

She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came, and has continued even from the morning until now, except that she rested a little in the house.”

for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

The woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, “Behold, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.

The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

By slothfulness the roof sinks in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.

For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly;

The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

They returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Don’t let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them.”

Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you?

Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand?

You who tear yourself in your anger, will the earth be forsaken for you? Or will the rock be removed out of its place?

Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.

so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts.

The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.

The slothful man doesn’t roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

Better is little, with the fear of Yahweh, than great treasure with trouble.

He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.

Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.

The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”

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

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper.

There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap.

They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry. It will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.

But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.

and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.

I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.” ’

The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will scatter the whole remnant of you to all the winds.

Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”

You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be within you. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will give up to the sword.

In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

“The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.

Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.

These things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,

For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Who can count the dust of Jacob, or count the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!”

They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,

The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.

without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;

“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”