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The Righteousness of the Upright ones Saves the Evil desires of the Treacherous Ones Takes Captive

Proverbs 11:6 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁶The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them: Again, righteousness (צְדָקָה tsedaqah) is a Hebrew noun meaning justice, rightness, blameless behavior, a person adhering to the moral standard set out by God in his Word. Upright (יָשָׁר yashar) is a Hebrew adjective that describes a person whose behavior is upright in accordance with a standard, and in this case, it is God’s standard of right and wrong, good and bad. In fact, Upright One is a title of God. (Isa 26:7) The Hebrew verb (נָצַל natsal) that is rendered deliver has the sense of to rescue, save, free from harm, and cause one to be safe and out of danger or evil, placing them in more favorable circumstances.

but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust: The treacherous (בָּגַד bagad) is one who does wrong to others because he has no standard by which to live, and he is not faithful to others. This person is not to be trusted because he is not reliable for, he has no real value system based on a standard. Taken captive (יִלָּכֵדוּ yillakedu) in that they are ensnared by their own lust (הַוָּה havvah), evil desires, wicked cravings, strong yearnings that are bad, that is, desires that come from evil motives or feelings.

It is the righteousness of the upright ones, namely, adhering to the moral standards set out by God in his Word that delivers them from the pitfalls of this world of imperfect humans that are alienated from God. The treacherous ones are not to be trusted because they are not faithful to anyone, and so, they will do wrong to anyone because they have no moral compass based on God’s standards. It is their evil desires, wicked cravings, strong yearnings that are bad, which take them captive to Satan’s fallen world.