Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G Messageand poverty will come marching in on you like a bandit, and desperate need will ambush you like an armed thug.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.Gand your poverty will come upon you like a prowler, and your want like an armed raider.
KJV
King James VersionSo shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
BSB
Berean Standard Bibleand poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
Footnotes
*Mehallek* (one who walks/wanders — a prowler) describes something moving relentlessly closer, not drifting passively. The 'man of the shield' (*ish magen*) — an armed man — suggests not random misfortune but an unstoppable assailant. Want and poverty are personified as aggressors; they come with force and intent. The sluggard's small surrenders (v.10) do not invite slow decline but sudden violent loss. FOG prefers 'prowler' and 'armed raider' to stress predatory movement; FOG Message uses 'bandit' and 'armed thug' to sharpen the street-level threat.