Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 16:26 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" The appetite of the laboring man labors for him, for his mouth urges him on. "
Proverbs 16:26
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
25 There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
26 The appetite of the laboring man labors for him, for his mouth urges him on.
27 A worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
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This verse is meant to stir us up to diligence and make us quick and active. Whatever our hand finds to do, we should do it with all our strength, both in ordinary work and in the work of religion. In the original sense, it says that the soul that labors, labors for itself. That is, this is heart-work, the labor of the inner person, and it should be taken seriously.
This kind of labor is necessary. Our mouths keep asking for food, and both soul and body have real needs that press on us every day. So we must either work or go without. Both our daily needs and our spiritual needs call for daily care, and that means daily labor, for we must eat bread by the sweat of our face (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
It is also very profitable. We know whose work we are doing. The person who labors will reap the fruit of that labor, and it will be for himself. He will enjoy the good results of his work and eat the fruit of his hands. If we make religion our main concern, God will make it our joy and blessing.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 16:1
"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD."
Proverbs 16:2
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the motives."
Proverbs 16:3
"Commit your deeds to the LORD, and your plans shall succeed."
Proverbs 16:4
"The LORD has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil."
Proverbs 16:5
"Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; they shall certainly not be unpunished."
Proverbs 16:6
"By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
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