Proverbs 14:23

In all hard work ¹  there is profit, but merely talking about it ²  only brings ³  poverty. ⁴ 

Pr 10:10; Pr 12:24; Pr 28:19; Ec 5:3; Joh 6:27; 2Th 3:10-12; 1Ti 5:13; Heb 6:10,11

¹ sn The Hebrew term עֶצֶב (’etsev, “painful toil; labor”) is first used in scripture in Gen 3:19 to describe the effects of the Fall. The point here is that people should be more afraid of idle talk than of hard labor.

² tn Heb “word of lips.” This construct phrase features a genitive of source (“a word from the lips”) or a subjective genitive (“speaking a word”). Talk without work (which produces nothing) is contrasted with labor that produces something.

³ tn The term “brings” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

⁴ sn The noun מַחְסוֹר (makhsor, “need; thing needed; poverty”) comes from the verb “to lack; to be lacking; to decrease; to need.” A person given to idle talk rather than industrious work will have needs that go unmet.