Proverbs 20:13

13 Don't love sleep, or you will become poor. Stay awake, and you will have more food than you need.

Proverbs 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 20:13

Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty
Sleep is a very great natural blessing; it is a gift of God, what nature requires, and is desirable; it is to be loved, though not immoderately; it is sweet to a man, and what he should be thankful for; yet should not indulge himself in to the neglect of the proper business of life; nor to be used but at the proper time for it; for the eye is made for sight, and not for sleep only, as Aben Ezra observes, connecting the words with the preceding; and therefore should not be kept shut and inattentive to business, which must necessarily end in poverty and want; see ( Proverbs 6:9-11 ) ; and so spiritual sleep and slothfulness bring on a spiritual poverty in the souls of men, both as to the exercise of grace and the performance of duty; open thine eyes, [and] thou shall be satisfied with bread;
that is, open thine eyes from sleep, awake and keep so, and be sedulous and industrious in the business of thy calling; so shalt thou have a sufficiency of food for thyself and family; see ( Proverbs 12:11 ) . It may be applied to awaking out of sleep in a spiritual sense, and to a diligent attendance to duty and the use of means, whereby the souls of men come to be satisfied with the goodness of the Lord, and the fatness of his house; see ( Ephesians 5:14 ) ( Psalms 65:4 ) .

Proverbs 20:13 In-Context

11 A child is known by his actions. He is known by whether his conduct is pure and right.
12 The LORD has made two things. He has made ears that hear. He has also made eyes that see.
13 Don't love sleep, or you will become poor. Stay awake, and you will have more food than you need.
14 "It's no good. It's no good!" says a buyer. Then off he goes and brags about what he bought.
15 There is gold. There are plenty of rubies. But lips that speak knowledge are a priceless jewel.
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