A-Z: Common sayings from the Bible: Go to (consider) the ant you sluggard

Usage

A recommendation to be active.

Definition

Ants have strength and persistence out of proportion to their size, from which we can learn lessons.

Bible References

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, ²if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, ³then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. ⁴Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; ⁵save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. ⁶Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. ⁷Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, ⁸she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. ⁹How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? ¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ¹¹and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. ¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, ¹³winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, ¹⁴with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; ¹⁵therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. ¹⁶There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: ¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, ¹⁹a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. ²⁰My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. ²¹Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. ²²When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. ²³For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, ²⁴to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. ²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; ²⁶for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. ²⁷Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? ²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her will go unpunished. ³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, ³¹but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. ³²He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. ³³He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. ³⁴For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. ³⁵He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

¹My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, ²Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. ³Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. ⁴Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. ⁵Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. ⁶Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: ⁷Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, ⁸Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. ⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? ¹⁰Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹¹So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. ¹²A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. ¹³He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; ¹⁴Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. ¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. ¹⁶These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. ²⁰My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: ²¹Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. ²²When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. ²³For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: ²⁴To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. ²⁵Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. ²⁶For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life. ²⁷Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? ²⁹So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. ³⁰Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; ³¹But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. ³²But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. ³³A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. ³⁴For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. ³⁵He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

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