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 gazelle 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).