Proverbs 22:13

Modern

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

Traditional

The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

Literal

A lazy one says, “A lion is outside! In the midst of the open areas I will be killed!”

Latin

Dicit piger: Leo est foris; in medio platearum occidendus sum.

Hebrew

English

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

Among the many proverbs about laziness (Proverbs 10:4–6, 26; 12:11; 13:4; 14:4; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:25; 26:13), this one is the funniest. Lazy people will invent any wild excuse to avoid working.

Theme notes and profiles

Proverbs 26:13–16
The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
Numbers 13:32–33
So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.