19 The use of the two rhetorical questions is designed to rebuke the lazy person in a forceful manner. The sluggard is spending too much time sleeping.
20 The writer might in this verse be imitating the words of the sluggard who just wants to take “a little nap.” The use is ironic, for by indulging in this little rest the lazy one comes to ruin.
21 Heb “like a wayfarer” or “like a traveler” (cf. ). The has “swiftness like a traveler.” It has also been interpreted as a “highwayman” (cf. ) or a “dangerous assailant.” W. McKane suggests “vagrant” (Proverbs [], 324); cf. “vagabond.” Someone traveling swiftly would likely be a robber.
22 The Hebrew word for “armed” is probably connected to the word for “shield” and “deliver” ( גָּנַן). G. R. Driver connects it to the Arabic word for “bold; insolent,” interpreting its use here as referring to a beggar or an insolent man (“Studies in the Vocabulary of the Old Testament, IV,” 33 [1933]: 38–47).

In other versions

How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard?

When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.

How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?

When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the arms to rest,

and your poverty will come like a robber,

your need, like a bandit.

But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

When will you wake up?

A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

How long will you lie down, lazy?

When will you rise up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands for rest—

like a robber shall your poverty come,

and what you lack like an armed man.

How long wilt thou 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 sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

Public Domain