Proverbs 22:13 | DiscipleDeck

Bible Commentary

Proverbs 22:13

The lazy person's excuse is absurdly extreme — a lion in the streets — revealing that sloth invents reasons to avoid work rather than engaging with real obstacles. The proverb gently mocks this by choosing the most dramatic possible excuse. Laziness is not just inactivity — it is creative avoidance.

Memory phrase: No excuses. Just do the work.

Talk about it: What is a made-up excuse you have heard — or used — to avoid something hard?

Prayer: God, help me not make excuses when there is work to do.

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More for Proverbs 22:13

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Proverbs 22 — OverviewProverbs 22 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleMiscellaneous Maxims.Proverbs 22 — OverviewProverbs 22 · Little Bible — for children and parentsProverbs 22 opens with two of the most important statements in wisdom literature: that a good name is worth more than riches, and that God made both the rich and the poor. It then moves through a rich sweep of themes —…Proverbs 22:1-16Proverbs 22:1-16 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe theme of the earlier part of the chapter may be said to be the good name: the blessings in the possession of it, and the conditions for the acquirement of it—partly negatively, partly positively, described.Proverbs 22:1-29Proverbs 22:1-29 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION Proverbs 22:13Proverbs 22:13 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleNote, 1. Those that have no love for their business will never want excuses to shake it off. Multitudes are ruined, both for soul and body, by their slothfulness, and yet still they have something or other to…Proverbs 22:13Proverbs 22:13 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe slothful man saith, There is a lion without (Proverbs 26:13). The absurd nature of the sluggard's excuse is hardly understood by the casual reader. The supposed lion is without, in the open country, and yet he…

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