Proverbs 22:13

13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

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Proverbs 22:13 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)

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

English Standard Version (ESV)

13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!"

New Living Translation (NLT)

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”

The Message Bible (MSG)

13 The loafer says, "There's a lion on the loose! If I go out I'll be eaten alive!"

American Standard Version (ASV)

13 The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be slain in the streets.

GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)

13 A lazy person says, "There's a lion outside! I'll be murdered in the streets!"

Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

13 The slacker says, "There's a lion outside! I'll be killed in the streets!"

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

13 People who don't want to work say, "There's a lion outside!" Or they say, "I'll be murdered if I go out into the streets!"

Proverbs 22:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 22:13

The slothful [man] saith, [there is] a lion without
Or, "in the street". This he says within himself; or to those who call out to him, and put him on doing the business of his proper calling, whether in the field or elsewhere, which, through his slothfulness, he has a disinclination to; and therefore frames excuses, and suggests this and that difficulty or danger in the way, expressed by a "lion without"; and which shows the folly and weakness of his excuses, since lions do not usually walk in cities, towns, and villages, and in the streets of them, but in woods and mountains; I shall be slain in the streets;
by the lion there; or I shall never be able to get over the difficulties, and through the dangers, which attending to business will expose me to. Some apply this to the difficulties that slothful persons imagine in the learning of languages, arts, and sciences; as Jarchi applies it to the learning of the law.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Proverbs 22:13 In-Context

11 One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

13 The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the LORD’s wrath falls into it.

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

Cross References 1

1. Proverbs 26:13