Proverbs 6:6
New International Version
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

New Living Translation
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

English Standard Version
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

Berean Standard Bible
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

King James Bible
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

New King James Version
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

New American Standard Bible
Go to the ant, you lazy one, Observe its ways and be wise,

NASB 1995
Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

NASB 1977
Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

Legacy Standard Bible
Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,

Amplified Bible
Go to the ant, O lazy one; Observe her ways and be wise,

Christian Standard Bible
Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.

American Standard Version
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Be like the ant and see her ways and learn, for there is no harvest for her,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he.

Contemporary English Version
You lazy people can learn by watching an anthill.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:

English Revised Version
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Consider the ant, you lazy bum. Watch its ways, and become wise.

Good News Translation
Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live.

International Standard Version
Go to the ant, you lazy man! Observe its ways and become wise.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; Consider her ways, and be wise;

Literal Standard Version
Go to the ant, O slothful one, | See her ways and be wise;

Majority Standard Bible
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

New American Bible
Go to the ant, O sluggard, study her ways and learn wisdom;

NET Bible
Go to the ant, you sluggard; observe its ways and be wise!

New Revised Standard Version
Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise.

New Heart English Bible
Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

Webster's Bible Translation
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

World English Bible
Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

Young's Literal Translation
Go unto the ant, O slothful one, See her ways and be wise;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Warnings Against Foolishness
5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. 6Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. 7Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,…

Cross References
Proverbs 6:9
How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?

Proverbs 10:26
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the slacker to those who send him.

Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

Proverbs 23:19
Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.

Proverbs 26:16
The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

Proverbs 30:24
Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:


Treasury of Scripture

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Proverbs 1:17
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

Job 12:7,8
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: …

Isaiah 1:3
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

thou

Proverbs 6:9
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Proverbs 10:26
As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

Proverbs 13:4
The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

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Proverbs 6
1. against indebtedness
6. idleness
12. and mischievousness
16. seven things detestable to God
20. the blessings of obedience
25. the mischief of unfaithfulness














Verses 6-11. - 10. Tenth admonitory discourse. Warning against sloth. The ethical connection of this discourse with the preceding has already been pointed out. Sloth militates against prosperity; it is the prolific parent of want, and, even more surely than suretyship, leads to misfortune and ruin, The certainty with which ruin steals upon the sluggard may be the reason why the teacher closes the discourse in the way he does. In the case of suretyship such an issue is uncertain; there is the possibility of escape, the surety may prevail upon his friend to release him from his obligation, and so he may escape ruin; but with sloth no such contingency is possible, its invariable end is disaster. So far as the grammatical structure of the two discourses is concerned, they appear to be quite independent of each other, the only points of coincidence observable being the repetition of one or two words, which is purely accidental (cf. "go" in vers. 3 and 6, and "sleep" and "slumber" in vers. 4 and 10). Verse 6. - Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The ant (Hebrew, n'malah) is here brought forward as supplying an example of wisdom to the sluggard. The habits of this insect, its industry and providence, have in all ages made it the symbol of these two qualities, and not only the sacred, but also profane writers have praised its foresight, and held it up for imitation. The ant is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament, and on both occasions in our book (see present passage and Proverbs 30:25). The derivation of n'malah is either from the root nam, with reference first to the silence with which it moves, and secondly to its active yet unperceived motion (Delitzsch), or from namal, i.q. malal, "to cut off," from its cutting off or consuming seeds (ab incidendis seminibus) (Buxtorf, Gesenius). The Aramaic name, shum'sh'manah, however, points to its activity and rapid running hither and thither (Fleischer). Sluggard; Hebrew, atsel, a verbal adjective tbund only in the Proverbs. The primary idea of the root atsal is that of languor and laxity. The cognate abstract nouns ats'lah and ats'luth, equivalent to "slothfulness," occur in Proverbs 19:15; Proverbs 31:27. Consider her ways; attentively regard them, and from them derive a lesson of wisdom. Her ways are the manner in which the ant displays her industry and foresight.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Walk in the manner of
לֵֽךְ־ (lêḵ-)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

the ant,
נְמָלָ֥ה (nə·mā·lāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5244: An ant

O sluggard;
עָצֵ֑ל (‘ā·ṣêl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 6102: Sluggish, lazy

observe
רְאֵ֖ה (rə·’êh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

its ways
דְרָכֶ֣יהָ (ḏə·rā·ḵe·hā)
Noun - common plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

and be wise:
וַחֲכָֽם׃ (wa·ḥă·ḵām)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 2449: To be wise


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant you sluggard (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 6:5
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