17 Bible Verses about Physical Labour

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”

‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,
But the one who gathers by labor increases it.

In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.

Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.

“Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts
That peoples toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?

Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”