The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.

This line is a Paula Poundstone stand-up joke that riffs on a well-known biblical verse—Romans 6:23 (“For the wages of sin is death…”). Poundstone, whose comedy often draws humor from everyday bureaucracy and civic life, recasts the religious warning in the language of modern payroll and taxation. The joke likely circulated through her live performances and comedy recordings in the late 20th century, when she was widely known for observational material delivered in an offhand, conversational style. The humor depends on the audience recognizing the scriptural phrasing and then being surprised by the mundane, contemporary twist about taxes and fatigue.

The joke juxtaposes moral absolutism with the banal realities of modern economic life. By treating “sin” as if it earns “wages” subject to withholding, Poundstone collapses the cosmic stakes of the biblical line into the everyday experience of seeing one’s paycheck reduced by taxes. The punchline—ending not in death but in “a tired feeling”—satirizes how constant financial and administrative pressures can drain drama and meaning from even the grandest pronouncements. It also pokes at the way people translate ethical or spiritual language into transactional, workplace terms, suggesting that contemporary life often feels less like tragedy and more like exhaustion.