Daily reading
Proverbs · VI · 6–11
Proverbs 6:6–11 · NLT
XXI · X · MMXXVI
Key verses · Proverbs 6:6–11 · NLT
6ake a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! (NLT)
10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. (NLT)
11Then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. (NLT)
Proverbs 6:6–11 · New Living Translation
6ake a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
7Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
8they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
9But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
10A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ·
11then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber. (NLT)
A note on Scripture quoting
We’ve hit this translation’s public quoting limit for now, so this is a good time to pick up your own Bible and read the rest of the passage.
In short
The second life lesson in chapter 6 points to one of the smallest creatures around. Ants have no boss standing over them, yet they work steadily in the good season and store up what they’ll need later. Their wisdom isn’t strength or talent. It’s doing the right thing at the right time without being forced to.
Then the father turns to the lazybones, and notice how gentle the slide sounds: a little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands. No single choice looks like a disaster. But those small delays add up, and trouble shows up suddenly, like a robber you didn’t see coming. The point isn’t to grind nonstop. It’s that faithfulness in small, ordinary things is how a life gets built, and neglect in small things is how it quietly comes apart.
A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest · then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit. (NLT)
Proverbs 6:10–11
Try today
Pick one thing you’ve been putting off “a little longer,” a small chore, an email, a repair, or a conversation. Do it today, before anyone has to ask, like the ant. Then notice one area where a few minutes of steady effort now would save you a bigger mess later.