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Proverbs 6

Proverbs 6 shows how wise instruction guards life against reckless pledges, neglected work, deceit, and the ruin of adultery.

A father addresses his son about the danger of pledging himself for another person’s debt, urging him to seek release without delay. He then points to the ant’s work as a rebuke to laziness and describes the deceitful person who spreads conflict. A list of seven things YHWH hates follows. The closing section calls the son to keep his parents’ teaching and warns that adultery brings destruction, disgrace, and a husband’s fury that money cannot appease.

temptationjob loss or money fearsermon or Bible study notes
Read
1My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,
2you are trapped by the words of your mouth; you are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
3Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.
4Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.
5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
6Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
7which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
8provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
9How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—
11so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.
12A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers,
14in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
16There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
17arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,
19a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching.
21Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.
22When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.
23For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
24to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.
25Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
26For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
27Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?
29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
31but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.
32He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.
33He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.
34For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won’t spare in the day of vengeance.
35He won’t regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Proverbs 6:23The image of instruction as light explains how correction protects the son from the dangers described next.
Proverbs 6:16This verse introduces seven things God hates, grounding the warnings against deceit and discord in his judgment.
Proverbs 6:20The command to retain both parents’ teaching opens the closing warning against lust and adultery.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm shares the image of God’s instruction as light, while Deuteronomy also speaks of keeping commandments on the heart and binding them to the body. Matthew shares the warning against lust in the heart, and 2 Timothy connects scriptural instruction and correction with a life of righteousness.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about the ant’s work without a chief, overseer, or ruler?

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How does the image of instruction as a lamp shape your response to correction?

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Questions people ask about Proverbs 6

What are the seven things God hates in Proverbs 6?

Verses 17–19 name arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart devising wicked schemes, feet running to mischief, a false witness, and someone sowing discord among brothers. The movement from six to seven introduces an emphatic list; it does not limit God’s hatred of evil to these acts.

What does becoming collateral mean in Proverbs 6?

Becoming collateral means pledging responsibility for another person’s obligation, putting yourself at risk if that person fails to pay. Verses 1–5 describe someone trapped by such a promise. The father urges humble, persistent efforts to gain release, using the urgency of an animal escaping a hunter’s trap.

Why does Proverbs 6 compare adultery to fire?

Verses 27–29 compare adultery to carrying fire against clothing or walking on hot coals: harm follows contact. The surrounding verses describe wounds, disgrace, and the anger of the betrayed husband. The comparison exposes the folly of expecting to commit adultery without consequences, even if money is offered afterward.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).