What does Proverbs 24:34 mean?

Hardship, accidents, and fraud can strip a person of their wealth. Another means to poverty is laziness: failing to do what needs to be done, because of disinterest or apathy. Most lazy people intend to accomplish tasks. They recognize those as jobs which need to be done. Yet they put them off until, to their harm, they realize it's too late and there's not enough time to get the job done. This can feel as sudden and dramatic as an ambush from robbers—yet it's the lazy person's own fault.

In most cases, success demands diligent work. A person must work even when evidence of positive results is slow to appear. A farmer prepares his field and vineyard without seeing visible results, but later, when the harvest comes, he reaps the good results of his work. James observes in James 5:7: "See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains." Similarly, Paul writes: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Just as successful farming requires work, even so successful Christian service requires work, and "in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).

This statement is identical to Proverbs 6:11.