American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Go to the ant, thou sluggard;Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no {Or, judge}chief,Overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep, O sluggard?When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as a {Or, rover}robber,And thy want as {Hebrew: a man with a shield.}an armed man.
I went by the field of the sluggard,And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,The face thereof was covered with {Or, wild vetches}nettles,And the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I beheld, and considered well;I saw, and received instruction:
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to sleep;
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,And thy want as an armed man.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
That is the thing which I spake unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do he hath showed unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine which followeth; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.
And the food shall be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number.
And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end.
And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt.
And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was sore in all the earth.
The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful {Greek: bondservant.}servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter;