Bible Verses About Work

Work appears in Genesis before anything goes wrong. The man is put in the garden to dress it and to keep it — labour is part of the original arrangement, not a punishment added later. That reading changes what the rest of these verses are doing.

Colossians moves the audience rather than the task: whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Paul was writing to slaves among others, people whose work was genuinely thankless. He does not tell them the work matters. He tells them who is watching.

Ecclesiastes is the bleakest and the most motivating: whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, because there is no work in the grave. The urgency comes from the shortness of the time, not from the importance of the task.

The verses

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Colossians 3:23

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Open → Proverbs 12:24

The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Open → Ecclesiastes 9:10

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Open → 1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Open → Proverbs 13:4

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Open → 2 Thessalonians 3:10

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Open → Genesis 2:15

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Open → Proverbs 22:29

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Open → 1 Thessalonians 4:11

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

Open → Psalms 127:1

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

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Open Psalm 127:1 on FirstVerse. It is the counterweight to everything else on this page.

Related subjects

Rest and Weariness Money and Greed Contentment Honesty and Truth

Scripture: King James Version, public domain. Last updated August 15, 2026.