Proverbs 22:13 (LSB)

Passage

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

Nearby Context

Proverbs 22:11 He who loves purity of heart And grace on his lips, the king is his friend.

Proverbs 22:12 The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge, But He subverts the words of the treacherous one.

Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; He who is cursed of Yahweh will fall into it.

Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sluggard", "says", "lion", "outside", "killed", and "streets". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sluggard" and "says", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge But..." into verse 14's "The mouth of strange women is a...", so "sluggard" and "says" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sluggard" and "says" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.