Labor Day and the Bible

The Good Book has a lot to say
about labor, profit, free markets,
and the rewards of diligent work

 

It’s Labor Day in America, a national day of rest and remembrance of the contributions of workers to society.

Work is not a curse. The ability to work with skill and creativity is part of the image of God, who worked six days creating the universe, earth and life, and rested on the seventh, setting a pattern for man from the beginning.

Entrepreneurship stems from the profit motive. Someone perceives a need in the open market, and chooses to go to work to fulfill that need. It is the hope of reward that drives workers and managers—not just monetary rewards, but the satisfaction of a job well done. To make a profit, a worker must act unselfishly, laboring to please someone else: the customer. A happy worker and a happy customer is a win-win situation. That’s the genius of a free market, turning the plague of selfishness against itself: “to get what I want, I have to give you what you want.”

Managers, too, must give employees what they need. When workers are free to change jobs in a free market economy, managers must satisfy them to keep them. The oft-portrayed conflict between workers and managers, while borne out in high-profile cases, is a false dichotomy, as many businessmen who create jobs work harder and are more skillful than their employees and have to shoulder much greater risk.

Thus, in the Biblical worldview, labor had intrinsic value before the Fall, and continues to minimize the effects of sin after the Fall. The Protestant Work Ethic did not spring from nothing. It is based on principles found throughout the Bible. Scripture commends skill in craftsmanship and diligence in work. Along with the value of work, the Bible commands fairness between workers and managers, (e.g., “The worker is worthy of his wages”), as well as freedom for employers (“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?”). Keeping those principles in balance remains a challenge today. In all situations, cruelty is condemned, and freedom from tyranny is exalted. Here are some selected readings about labor and profit on various themes. Even non-believers will find it hard to avoid seeing the wisdom in these time-honored, practical truths.

Incidentally, there are machines doing skillful work for you in your body all the time (see 5 Sept 2022).

Quotations are from the Holy Bible, New King James Version.

Work a Created Role for Man

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. (Genesis 4:22)

And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” (Genesis 5:29)

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. (Exodus 20:9)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen— even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:3-8)

Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions. (Psalm 104:23-24)

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. (Psalm 107:23-24)

The labor of the righteous leads to life; the wages of the wicked to sin. (Proverbs 16:10)

So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’  (Luke 19:13)

But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. (I Thessalonians 4:10-12)

Righteousness of Rewards

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (I Timothy 5:18).

But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!” (II Chronicles 15:7)

When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. (Psalm 128:2)

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase. (Proverbs 13:11)

In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. (Luke 10:7)

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. (II Thessalonians 3:7-9)

Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”  (I Timothy 5:17-18)

Diligence in Work

“And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.” (Exodus 36:1)

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep— so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11)

He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4)

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy man to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)

The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. (Proverbs 11:18)

The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24)

The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man’s precious possession. (Proverbs 12:27)

The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Proverbs 13:4)

The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, but the way of the upright is a highway. (Proverbs 15:19)

Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread. (Proverbs 20:13)

The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)

Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown [i.e., obscure] men. (Proverbs 22:29)

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. (I Corinthians 3:10)

Profit Motive

The person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on. (Proverbs 16:26)

Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. (Proverbs 19:15)

The lazy man will not plow because of winter; he will beg during harvest and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)

The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. (Proverbs 21:25)

The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. (Proverbs 26:16)

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. (Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Here is what I have seen: it is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)

Because of laziness the building decays, and through idleness of hands the house leaks. (Ecclesiastes 10:18)

Big Business Management

Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing. (Exodus 36:4)

Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians. (I Kings 5:6)

Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.  (I Kings 5:13-16)

Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord. (II Kings 12:8)

And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram my master craftsman (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father. (II Chronicles 2:13-14)

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24)

She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. (Proverbs 31:16); She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. (v 27)

When goods increase, they increase who eat them; so what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes? (Ecclesiastes 5:11)

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. (Matthew 20:1-2)

Wages and Justice

“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ (Matthew 20:8-15)

Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. (Genesis 31:7)

‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. (Leviticus 19:13)

Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. (Deuteronomy 24:15)

Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. (Proverbs 11:1; see also 16:11, 20:23)

He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty. (Proverbs 22:16)

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers.” (Isaiah 58:3)

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness And his chambers by injustice, Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work. (Jeremiah 22:13)

In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God. “Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. (Ezekiel 22:12-13)

And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5)

Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:14)

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Romans 4:4)

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. (Colossians 3:22-25)

Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. (James 5:4)

Curse of Tyranny and Blessing of Liberty

Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. (Deuteronomy 6:7)

A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. (Deuteronomy 28:33)

The Lord has sworn by His right hand And by the arm of His strength: “Surely I will no longer give your grain As food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, For which you have labored. (Isaiah 62:8)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. (Luke 4:18)

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (II Corinthians 3:17)

Vanity of Earthly Profit Alone

Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. (Proverbs 27:23-24)

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 2:19-22)

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied. (Ecclesiastes 6:7)

“You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:6)

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25)

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. (Revelation 18:22)

Laboring for the Kingdom of God

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38, Luke 10:2)

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. (Ezra 3:10)

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ (John 4:35-37)

I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:35)

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (I Corinthians 3:5-8)

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. (I Corinthians 3:9-10)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (I Corinthians 15:8)

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. (Philippians 4:3)

For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. (I Thessalonians 2:9)

And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. (I Thessalonians 5:12-13)

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15)

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. (Titus 3:8)

Eternal Profit

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1).

Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, And my work with my God.’ ” (Isaiah 49:4)

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 let your soul delight itself in abundance. (Isaiah 55:2)

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” (John 6:27)

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (I Corinthians 3:8)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (I Corinthians 15:58)

The Reward of Rest

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11, 31:17)

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:1-10)

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)