Proverbs · 35 verses
Proverbs 6
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The ant keeps house without a commander, while the slacker is invited to inspect the arrangement.
The ant and the pledgevv. 1–11
A spoken pledge can become a trap, and the remedy is wonderfully energetic: humble pleading, no sleep, and escape like a gazelle or a bird. Then comes the ant, that tiny domestic economist, preparing provisions without commander, overseer, or ruler. The slacker, meanwhile, is still folding the hands for a little rest, while poverty approaches with the manners of a robber.
The catalogue of what is hatedvv. 12–19
The worthless man has an entire semaphore of wickedness: eyes winking, feet speaking, fingers pointing. His heart devises evil and sows discord, so his calamity arrives suddenly. Then the list counts to six and, with a neat extra step, to seven: the final detestable thing is the person who sets brothers against one another.
Fire, hunger, and the adulterervv. 20–35
Father’s commandment and mother’s teaching are to be worn almost as travelling equipment: bound to the heart, tied around the neck, speaking at waking and watching at sleep. They lead into a warning about the smooth-tongued adulteress, with fire and hot coals doing the explanatory work. A hungry thief receives a curious measure of sympathy, yet his bill, if caught, is sevenfold and empties his house; the adulterer receives no such comparative softness, but wounds, dishonor, and a husband whom ransom cannot appease.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Prov 6:1My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
Prov 6:2if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Prov 6:3then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor.
Prov 6:4Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
Prov 6:5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
Prov 6:6Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
Prov 6:7Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler,
Prov 6:8it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
Prov 6:9How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
Prov 6:10A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
Prov 6:11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
Prov 6:12A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
Prov 6:13winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers.
Prov 6:14With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
Prov 6:15Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
Prov 6:16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
Prov 6:17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
Prov 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
Prov 6:19a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
Prov 6:20My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
Prov 6:21Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
Prov 6:22When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
Prov 6:23For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,
Prov 6:24to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Prov 6:25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
Prov 6:26For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Prov 6:27Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?
Prov 6:28Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
Prov 6:29So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
Prov 6:30Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger.
Prov 6:31Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
Prov 6:32He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.
Prov 6:33Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.
Prov 6:34For jealousy enrages a husband, and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.
Prov 6:35He will not be appeased by any ransom, or persuaded by lavish gifts.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 318 passages were voted onto 33 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 17Psalms 120:2–3Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.
- 16Psalms 11:5The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.
- 23Psalms 119:105Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- 6Proverbs 20:4The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
- 17Proverbs 12:22Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
- 6Proverbs 18:9Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.
- 16Proverbs 8:13To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- 6Proverbs 6:9How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
- 6Proverbs 13:4The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
- 2Proverbs 18:7A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- 232 Peter 1:19We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
- 2Proverbs 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- 6Hebrews 6:12Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
- 16Proverbs 11:20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the blameless in their walk are His delight.
- 23Psalms 19:8The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
- 6Proverbs 30:25The ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
Onward