Proverbs 6

1 My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, If you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;

2 You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.

3 Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, Seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.

4 Give no sleep to your eyes, Nor slumber to your eyelids.

5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, Like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

7 Which having no chief, Overseer, or ruler,

8 Provides her bread in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.

9 How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:

11 So your poverty will come as a robber, And your scarcity as an armed man.

12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity, Is he who walks with a perverse mouth;

13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who motions with his fingers;

14 In whose heart is perverseness, Who devises evil continually, Who always sows discord.

15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

16 There are six things which Yahweh hates; Yes, seven which are an abomination to him:

17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood;

18 A heart that devises wicked schemes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness who utters lies, And he who sows discord among brothers.

20 My son, keep your father's commandment, And don't forsake your mother's teaching.

21 Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

22 When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.

23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

24 To keep you from the immoral woman, From the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.

25 Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, Neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.

26 For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.

27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap, And his clothes not be burned?

28 Or can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be scorched?

29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.

30 Men don't despise a thief, If he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:

31 But if he be found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.

32 He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.

33 He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.

34 For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.

35 He won't regard any ransom, Neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.

Proverbs 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Cautions against rash suretiship. (1-5) A rebuke to slothfulness. (6-11) Seven things hateful to God. (12-19) Exhortations to walk according to God's commandments. (20-35)

Verses 1-5 If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world. We are stewards of our worldly substance, and have to answer to the Lord for our disposal of it; to waste it in rash schemes, or such plans as may entangle us in difficulties and temptations, is wrong. A man ought never to be surety for more than he is able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay, without wronging his family; he ought to look upon every sum he is engaged for, as his own debt. If we must take all this care to get our debts to men forgiven, much more to obtain forgiveness with God. Humble thyself to him, make sure of Christ as thy Friend, to plead for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and that thou mayest be kept from going down to the pit.

Verses 6-11 Diligence in business is every man's wisdom and duty; not so much that he may attain worldly wealth, as that he may not be a burden to others, or a scandal to the church. The ants are more diligent than slothful men. We may learn wisdom from the meanest insects, and be shamed by them. Habits of indolence and indulgence grow upon people. Thus life runs to waste; and poverty, though at first at a distance, gradually draws near, like a traveller; and when it arrives, is like an armed man, too strong to be resisted. All this may be applied to the concerns of our souls. How many love their sleep of sin, and their dreams of worldly happiness! Shall we not seek to awaken such? Shall we not give diligence to secure our own salvation?

Verses 12-19 If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank.

Verses 20-35 The word of God has something to say to us upon all occasions. Let not faithful reproofs ever make us uneasy. When we consider how much this sin abounds, how heinous adultery is in its own nature, of what evil consequence it is, and how certainly it destroys the spiritual life in the soul, we shall not wonder that the cautions against it are so often repeated. Let us notice the subjects of this chapter. Let us remember Him who willingly became our Surety, when we were strangers and enemies. And shall Christians, who have such prospects, motives, and examples, be slothful and careless? Shall we neglect what is pleasing to God, and what he will graciously reward? May we closely watch every sense by which poison can enter our minds or affections.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 6

In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described, Pr 6:1; and represented as a snare and a net, in which men are taken, Pr 6:2; and advice is given what to do in such a case, for safety in it, and deliverance from it, Pr 6:3-5; The sin of slothfulness is exposed, by observing the industry of the ant, Pr 6:6-8; by expostulating with the sluggard for his continuance in sloth, and by mimicking him, Pr 6:9,10; and by the poverty it brings upon him, Pr 6:11. Then a naughty wicked man is described, by his mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, and heart, whose ruin is sudden and inevitable, Pr 6:11-15. The seven things hateful to God are particularly named, Pr 6:16-19. And next the exhortation in some preceding chapters is reassumed, to attend to the instructions of parents; which will be found ornamental, pleasant, and useful, Pr 6:20-23. Especially to preserve from the lewd woman cautioned against, Pr 6:24,25; whose company is dissuaded from; on account of the extreme poverty and distress she brings persons to, and even danger of life, Pr 6:26; from the unavoidable ruin such come into, Pr 6:27-29; from the sin of uncleanness being greater than that of theft, Pr 6:30,31; from the folly the adulterer betrays; from the destruction of his soul, and the disgrace he brings on himself, Pr 6:32,33; and from the rage and irreconcilable offence of the husband of the adulteress, Pr 6:34,35.