Against suretyship, 1-5; idleness, 6-11; and mischievousness, 12-15. Seven things hateful to God, 16-19. The blessings of obedience, 20-24. The mischiefs of lewdness, 25-35.
1 My son, if you are surety for your friend, if you have stricken your hand with a stranger,
2 You are snared with the words of your mouth, you are taken with the words of your mouth.
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself when you have come into the hand of your friend: go, humble yourself, and make urgent request to your friend.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
5 Deliver yourself as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise.
7 She, having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provides her provisions in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you sleep, O sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,
11 And your poverty shall come as one who travels, and your lack as an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a crooked mouth.
13 He winks with his eyes. He speaks with his feet. He teaches with his fingers.
14 Perverseness is in his heart. He devises mischief continually. He sows discord.
15 Therefore, his calamity shall come suddenly. He shall be suddenly broken without remedy.
16 These six things the LORD hates, even seven are abominations to him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness who speaks lies, and him who sows discord among brothers.
20 My son, keep your father's commandment and do not forsake the law of your mother.
21 Bind them continually upon your heart and tie them around your neck.
22 When you go, it shall lead you. When you sleep, it shall keep you. And when you awake, it shall talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp, the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24 To keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her take you with her eyelids.
26 For by means of a lewd woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?
29 Such is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry.
31 But if he is found, he shall restore seven-fold. He shall give all the substance of his house.
32 But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
33 He shall get a wound and dishonor, and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Proverbs, Chapter 6[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship, exposes the sin of idleness, describes a wicked man, makes mention of seven things hated by God, exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described (Proverbs 6:1); and represented as a snare and a net in which men are taken (Proverbs 6:2); and advice is given what to do in such a case, for safety in it, and deliverance from it (Proverbs 6:3-5); The sin of slothfulness is exposed by observing the industry of the ant (Proverbs 6:6-8); by expostulating with the sluggard for his continuance in sloth and by mimicking him (Proverbs 6:9-10); and by the poverty it brings upon him (Proverbs 6:11). Then a naughty wicked man is described by his mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, and heart, whose ruin is sudden and inevitable (Proverbs 6:11-15). The seven things hated by God are particularly named (Proverbs 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 (Proverbs 6:20-23). Especially to preserve from the lewd woman cautioned against (Proverbs 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 (Proverbs 6:26); from the unavoidable ruin such come into (Proverbs 6:27-29); from the sin of uncleanness being greater than that of theft (Proverbs 6:30-31); from the folly the adulterer betrays, from the destruction of his soul and the disgrace he brings on himself (Proverbs 6:32-33); and from the rage and irreconcilable offence of the husband of the adulteress (Proverbs 6:34-35).