Proverbs 20:4

The sluggard will not plow ¹  during the planting season, ²  so at harvest time he looks ³  for the crop ⁴  but has nothing.

A sluggard does not plough in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

If you are too lazy to plow in the right season, you will have no food at the harvest.

A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.

The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing.

The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.

The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.

The sluggard will not plow ¹  during the planting season, ²  so at harvest time he looks ³  for the crop ⁴  but has nothing.

¹ sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.

² tn Heb “in the autumn”; ASV “by reason of the winter.” The noun means “autumn, harvest time.” The right time for planting was after the harvest and the rainy season of autumn and winter began.

³ tn The Piel of the verb שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”) means “to beg” or “to inquire carefully.” At the harvest time he looks for produce but there is none. The Piel might suggest, however, that because he did not plant, or did not do it at the right time, he is reduced to begging and will have nothing (cf. KJV, ASV; NASB “he begs during the harvest”).

⁴ tn The phrase “for the crop” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.