A lone mountain gazelle in mid-bound across a stony open slope in sharp morning light, under a calm empty pale sky.

The father’s talks

Proverbs 6

A promise you shouldn’t have made, a bed you won’t leave, a look you can’t take back. Three traps.

35 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–7The father's talksWhy the book exists, then a father to his sonChapter 6
8–9Wisdom callsHer house and Folly's
10–22:16Solomon's sayingsTwo lines at a time
22:17–24The sayings of the wiseThirty sayings, and a few more
25–29Hezekiah's collectionMore of Solomon, copied out later
30AgurNumbered sayings from a weary man
31LemuelA mother's words, and the noble wife

Warnings against Foolishness

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

if you have been trapped by the words of your lips,

ensnared by the words of your mouth,

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then 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.

Allow no sleep to your eyes

or slumber to your eyelids.

Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker;

observe its ways and become wise.

Without a commander,

without an overseer or ruler,

it prepares its provisions in summer;

it gathers its food at harvest.

Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

Proverbs 6:6

How long will you lie there, O slacker?

When will you get up from your sleep?

Morning light through an open door onto a dirt floor: a large clay storage jar lying tipped and empty, a rumpled reed sleeping mat behind it, a few spilled grains.

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and need like a bandit.

Reflect

A little at a time

Nobody decides to ruin a harvest. It goes by “a little folding of the hands to rest.” What have you been putting off, a little at a time? What is one small thing you could do about it today?

A worthless person, a wicked man,

walks with a perverse mouth,

winking his eyes, speaking with his feet,

and pointing with his fingers.

With deceit in his heart he devises evil;

he continually sows discord.

Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

Question

Quick question

Look at where the list stops.

Which of the seven things the LORD hates is named last?

Warnings against Adultery

My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

Close on a stamp seal of dark stone on a plain cord, against a man’s plain wool robe at the neck, in warm side light.

Bind them always upon your heart;

tie them around your neck.

When you walk, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

to keep you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

Do not lust in your heart for her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes.

For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,

and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

A shallow bed of glowing charcoal on a stone hearth in the dark, orange and gray, a thin ash drifting, black above.

Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

Can a man walk on hot coals

without scorching his feet?

So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

0:14

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Men do not despise the thief

if he steals to satisfy his hunger.

Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold;

he must give up all the wealth of his house.

Wounds and dishonor will befall him,

and his reproach will never be wiped away.

For jealousy enrages a husband,

and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

He will not be appeased by any ransom,

or persuaded by lavish gifts.

Pray

Watchful eyes

Ask God for watchful eyes and a clear conscience. Ask Him to bind His words to your heart before the hard hour comes, and to show you any small fire you have been holding close.

You’ve experienced

Proverbs 6

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A verse to carry with you

Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

Proverbs 6:6

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