'Idle' in the Bible

And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

"You are not to go around slandering your people. "You are not to stand idle when your neighbor's life is at stake. I am the LORD.

For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

Will your idle talk reduce people to silence, and will no one rebuke you when you mock?

From men with Your hand, O Lord,From men of the world [these moths of the night] whose portion [of enjoyment] is in this life—idle and vain,And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;They are satisfied with children,And they leave what they have left [of wealth] to their children.

A song. A psalm of Asaph.God, do not keep silent.Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.

Idle hands make one poor,but diligent hands bring riches.

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

Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

She watches over the activities of her householdand is never idle.

Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of idle hands the house leaks.

Therefore, remove sorrow and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, for childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;His idle boasts are false.

who frustrates the omens of idle talkers, and drives diviners mad, who turns back the wise, and makes their knowledge foolish;

"If you keep your feet from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable; and if you honor it by not going your own ways and seeking your own pleasure or speaking merely idle words,

“I know his fury,” declares the Lord,“But it is futile;His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.

that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

“But his master answered him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap [the harvest] where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter seed.

But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.'

And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

The result was that the Pharisees said among themselves, "Observe how idle all your efforts are! The world is gone after him!"

But the jealousy of the Jews was aroused, and, calling to their aid some ill-conditioned and idle fellows, they got together a riotous mob and filled the city with uproar. They then attacked the house of Jason and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out before the assembly of people.

And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

For the kingdom of God is demonstrated not in idle talk but with power.

Now I have sent the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter may not prove to be an idle boast, and so that you may stand ready, just as I said.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.

We urge you, brothers, to admonish those who are idle, cheer up those who are discouraged, and help those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined or inappropriate manner when we were with you [we were never idle or lazy, nor did we avoid our duties],

For we hear that there are some of you who live disorderly lives and are mere idle busybodies.

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

But avoid all irreverent babble and godless chatter [with its profane, empty words], for it will lead to further ungodliness,

For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions,

For there are also many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from Judaism.

One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.

Our people must learn to do good deeds to meet necessary demands [whatever the occasion may require], so that they will not be unproductive.

But, idle boaster, are you willing to be taught how it is that faith apart from obedience is worthless? Take the case of Abraham our forefather.

for these things existing and abounding in you make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful as regards the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;

They will exploit you in their greed with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

For this reason, if I come, I shall not forget his conduct, nor his idle and mischievous talk against us. And he does not stop there: he not only will not receive the brethren, but those who desire to do this he hinders, and excludes them from the Church.