Proverbs 6

Warnings Against Folly

¹ My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in pledge for another,

² if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,

³ then do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:
Go and humble yourself;
press your plea with your neighbor!

⁴ Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no 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.

So many of the proverbs are "preventative wisdom". They help us stay out of trouble. I am thankful, though, for these 5 verses that help me know what to do AFTER I've put my foot in my mouth. Whatever the instruction, humility is always part of it.

¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:

¹⁷ haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,

¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰ My son, keep your father's commands
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

Wouldn't it be awesome if all of us as parents (both mom and dad) were to warn out children against adultery? And wouldn't be awesome if we would command, teach and model purity? Then when our kids "keep" and "do not forsake" then they will be making wise choices that will strengthen their relationships?

²¹ Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.

²² When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.

Beautiful words found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

²³ For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way to life,

²⁴ keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,

²⁶ for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

²⁷ Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?

²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?

²⁹ So is he who sleeps with another man's wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰ Men do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.

³¹ Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

³² But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
whoever does so destroys himself.