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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Proverbs 6:6
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Go to the ant, you slacker!Observe its ways and become wise.
Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Go watch the ants, you lazy person. Watch what they do and be wise.
Go to the ant, you sluggard; observe its ways and be wise!
Go to the ant, O lazy one; Observe her ways and be wise,
Go to the ant, you lazy one, Observe its ways and be wise,
Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
Goe to the pismire, O sluggarde: beholde her waies, and be wise.
Go to the ant, O sluggard,Observe her ways and be wise,
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and be wise:
You lazy people can learn by watching an anthill.
Go to the ant, you lazybones! Consider its ways, and be wise.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise:
You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them.
Be like the ant, consider her ways, and be wise;
Go to the ant, lazy! Consider its ways and be wise.
Go to the ant, lazy man; consider her ways and be wise;
Go to the Emmet (thou slogarde) cosidre hir wayes, & lerne to be wyse.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:
Go to the ant, you hater of work; give thought to her ways and be wise:
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise;
Goe to the Ant, thou sluggard, consider her wayes, and be wise.
Go to the emmet thou sluggarde, consider her wayes, and learne to be wyse:
Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
O! thou slowe man, go to the `amte, ether pissemyre; and biholde thou hise weies, and lerne thou wisdom.
Go to the ant, you sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
Go to the ant, O lazy person. Watch and think about her ways, and be wise.
Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard, observe her ways, and be wise;
Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;
Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the ant: The ant has been famous in all ages for its social habits, foresight, economy and industry. Collecting their food at the proper seasons, they bite off the ends of the grain to prevent it from germinating, and lay it up in cells till needed. Proverbs 1:17, Job 12:7, Job 12:8, Isaiah 1:3, Matthew 6:26
thou: Proverbs 6:9, Proverbs 10:26, Proverbs 13:4, Proverbs 15:19, Proverbs 18:9, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 19:24, Proverbs 20:4, Proverbs 21:25, Proverbs 22:13, Proverbs 24:30-34, Proverbs 26:13-16, Matthew 25:26, Romans 12:11, Hebrews 6:12
Reciprocal: Genesis 41:34 - and take Exodus 16:21 - General Ruth 2:23 - General Proverbs 3:32 - the froward Proverbs 6:10 - General Proverbs 10:4 - becometh Proverbs 10:5 - gathereth Proverbs 13:23 - destroyed Proverbs 30:25 - General Jeremiah 8:7 - stork Luke 16:8 - done
Cross-References
But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
"I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
"But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
And God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people.
Yes, God will judge his people, but oh how compassionately he'll do it. When he sees their weakened plight and there is no one left, slave or free, He'll say, "So where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge, The gods who feasted on the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink-offerings? Let them show their stuff and help you, let them give you a hand!
"Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now? Israel, will you follow my map? I'll make short work of your enemies, give your foes the back of my hand. I'll send the God -haters cringing like dogs, never to be heard from again. You'll feast on my fresh-baked bread spread with butter and rock-pure honey."
class="poetry"> Come, let's shout praises to God , raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns! And why? Because God is the best, High King over all the gods. In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns, in the other hand grasps the high mountains. He made Ocean—he owns it! His hands sculpted Earth! So come, let us worship: bow before him, on your knees before God , who made us! Oh yes, he's our God, and we're the people he pastures, the flock he feeds. Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks: "Don't turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising, As on the day of the Wilderness Test, when your ancestors turned and put me to the test. For forty years they watched me at work among them, as over and over they tried my patience. And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked! ‘Can't they keep their minds on God for five minutes? Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?' Exasperated, I exploded, ‘They'll never get where they're headed, never be able to sit down and rest.'"
God gave his word and he won't take it back: you're the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest. The Lord stands true at your side, crushing kings in his terrible wrath, Bringing judgment on the nations, handing out convictions wholesale, crushing opposition across the wide earth. The King-Maker put his King on the throne; the True King rules with head held high!
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction "And now listen to this, family of Jacob, you who are called by the name Israel: Who got you started in the loins of Judah, you who use God 's name to back up your promises and pray to the God of Israel? But do you mean it? Do you live like it? You claim to be citizens of the Holy City; you act as though you lean on the God of Israel, named God -of-the-Angel-Armies. For a long time now, I've let you in on the way I work: I told you what I was going to do beforehand, then I did it and it was done, and that's that. I know you're a bunch of hardheads, obstinate and flint-faced, So I got a running start and began telling you what was going on before it even happened. That is why you can't say, ‘My god-idol did this.' ‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.' You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it? And that was just the beginning. I have a lot more to tell you, things you never knew existed. This isn't a variation on the same old thing. This is new, brand-new, something you'd never guess or dream up. When you hear this you won't be able to say, ‘I knew that all along.' You've never been good listeners to me. You have a history of ignoring me, A sorry track record of fickle attachments— rebels from the womb. But out of the sheer goodness of my heart, because of who I am, I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper. I don't wash my hands of you. Do you see what I've done? I've refined you, but not without fire. I've tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction. Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do. I have my reputation to keep up. I'm not playing second fiddle to either gods or people. "Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel— I'm the One who named you! I'm the One. I got things started and, yes, I'll wrap them up. Earth is my work, handmade. And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon. When I speak, they're on their feet, at attention. "Come everybody, gather around, listen: Who among the gods has delivered the news? I, God , love this man Cyrus, and I'm using him to do what I want with Babylon. I, yes I, have spoken. I've called him. I've brought him here. He'll be successful. Come close, listen carefully: I've never kept secrets from you. I've always been present with you." And now, the Master, God , sends me and his Spirit with this Message from God , your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel: "I am God , your God, who teaches you how to live right and well. I show you what to do, where to go. If you had listened all along to what I told you, your life would have flowed full like a river, blessings rolling in like waves from the sea. Children and grandchildren are like sand, your progeny like grains of sand. There would be no end of them, no danger of losing touch with me." Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians! Shout the news. Broadcast it. Let the world know, the whole world. Tell them, " God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!" They weren't thirsty when he led them through the deserts. He made water pour out of the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed. "There is no peace," says God , "for the wicked."
But they turned on him; they grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned on them, became their enemy and fought them.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Go to the ant, thou sluggard,.... That art become surety for another, and got into a snare and net, and yet takest no pains to get out. Or this may be directed, not to the surety, but the debtor; who, through his slothfulness, has contracted debts, and uses no industry to be in a capacity to pay them. Or, it may be, this has no connection with the former; but the wise man proceeds to a new subject, and to dissuade from idleness, which brings ruin on families, and leads to all sin; and, for the instruction of idle and slothful men, proposes the example of the ant, and sends them to it to learn industry of it h;
consider her ways; what diligence and industry it uses in providing its food; which, though a small, weak, feeble creature, yet will travel over flints and stones, climb trees, enter into towers, barns, cellars, places high and low, in search of food; never hinder, but help one another in carrying their burdens; prepare little cells to put their provisions in, and are so built as to secure them from rain; and if at any time their corn is wet, they bring out and dry it, and bite off the ends of it, that it may not grow. These, with others, are taken notice of by Frantzius i; and some of them by Gersom on the place;
and be wise; learn wisdom of it, and be wiser than that, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions: this is a mortification of proud men, that would be reckoned wise, to be sent to so despicable a creature to get wisdom from.
h So Horace gives it as an example of labour----"Parvula (nam exemplo est) magni formica laboris", &c. Sermon. l. 1. Sat. 1. v. 33, 34, 35. & Phocylides, v. 152-159. i Hist. Animal. Sacr. par. 5. c. 8. Vid. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 25. & l. 6. c. 43.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The warning against the wastefulness of the prodigal is followed by a warning as emphatic against the wastefulness of sloth. The point of comparison with the ant is not so much the foresight of the insect as its unwearied activity during the appointed season, rebuking man’s inaction at a special crisis Proverbs 6:4. In Proverbs 30:25, the storing, provident habit of the ant is noticed.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Proverbs 6:6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard — נמלה nemalah, the ant, is a remarkable creature for foresight, industry, and economy. At the proper seasons they collect their food-not in the summer to lay up for the winter; for they sleep during the winter, and eat not; and therefore such hoards would be to them useless; but when the food necessary for them is most plentiful, then they collect it for their consumption in the proper seasons. No insect is more laborious, not even the bee itself; and none is more fondly attached to or more careful of its young, than the ant. When the young are in their aurelia state, in which they appear like a small grain of rice, they will bring them out of their nests, and lay them near their holes, for the benefit of the sun; and on the approach of rain, carefully remove them, and deposit them in the nest, the hole or entrance to which they will cover with a piece of thin stone or tile, to prevent the wet from getting in. It is a fact that they do not lay up any meat for winter; nor does Solomon, either here or in Proverbs 30:25, assert it. He simply says that they provide their food in summer, and gather it in harvest; these are the most proper times for a stock to be laid in for their consumption; not in winter; for no such thing appears in any of their nests, nor do they need it, as they sleep during that season; but for autumn, during which they wake and work. Spring, summer, and autumn, they are incessant in their labour; and their conduct affords a bright example to men.
