6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise: 7 which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, 8 provideth her bread in the summer, [and] gathereth her food in the harvest. 9 How long, sluggard, wilt thou lie down? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest! 11 So shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and thy penury as an armed man.
12 A man of Belial, a wicked person, is he that goeth about with a perverse mouth; 13 he winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; 14 deceits are in his heart; he deviseth mischief at all times, he soweth discords. 15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly: in a moment shall he be broken, and without remedy. 16 These six [things] doth Jehovah hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; 18 a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that are swift in running to mischief; 19 a false witness that uttereth lies, and he that soweth discords among brethren.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 6:6-19
Commentary on Proverbs 6:6-11
(Read Proverbs 6:6-11)
Diligence in business is every man's wisdom and duty; not so much that he may attain worldly wealth, as that he may not be a burden to others, or a scandal to the church. The ants are more diligent than slothful men. We may learn wisdom from the meanest insects, and be shamed by them. Habits of indolence and indulgence grow upon people. Thus life runs to waste; and poverty, though at first at a distance, gradually draws near, like a traveller; and when it arrives, is like an armed man, too strong to be resisted. All this may be applied to the concerns of our souls. How many love their sleep of sin, and their dreams of worldly happiness! Shall we not seek to awaken such? Shall we not give diligence to secure our own salvation?
Commentary on Proverbs 6:12-19
(Read Proverbs 6:12-19)
If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank.