Aligned sentence by sentence
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— and lacking most of his needs. As it says: 'A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down — and your poverty comes walking and your want as an armed man' (Prov. 24:33–34).
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For once he is lazy, he no longer has food, clothing, or a home — and he is in regret for a very long time.
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Until his cravings and drives kill him outright — as it says: 'The craving of the lazy person kills him, for his hands refuse to work' (Prov. 21:25).
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And it even causes him to neglect prayer, fasting, vigil, and the movement Torah and every benefit require. That is why the opposite of this laziness is contrasted with the righteous person.
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For the word 'laziness' (ʿaṣlūt) also applies to wickedness — it says: 'All day long he craves and craves, while the righteous gives and does not spare' (Prov. 21:26).
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And there is no dropsy, heaviness, bloating, sluggishness, lower-body pain, gout, sciatica, varicose veins, elephantiasis, or most other ailments except in the company of idleness.
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Indeed even the well-off ought not be lazy and idle — as it says about the virtuous woman: 'she watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness' (Prov. 31:27).
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We find the soul inclines toward rest only because its Creator made rest a reminder to it of the permanence and tranquility of the World to Come, and a stirring of longing for it.
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As it says: 'The work of righteousness shall be peace; the service of righteousness, quiet and confidence forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, in undisturbed resting places' (Isa. 32:17–18).
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Section XVII. It has now become clear, from what I have laid out and explained for whoever reads this book, that every person who held the view that any one of these thirteen pursuits should be practiced —
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— his view is error, not truth — because he required its practice in isolation and abandoned the combining of others with it; and so his goal was distorted and he fell short of reaching his desire.