Oil and water do not mix, but they co-exist. This is something we learnt early in our Science curriculum from school. Oil can only be broken with a good cleaning agent like soap, and so we apply that knowledge to our daily lives to help clean ourselves, and other matters. The book of Proverbs continuously provides the contrasts between good and bad like water and oil. They do not mix and you need something (or someone) to remove the "oil". Proverbs 11:6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. The discourse over righteous and wicked individuals continues in this chapter. Starts with an element of business, the weighing scale. You can choose to either operate with integrity or be dishonestly shrewd (as opposed to just shrewd and not using lies and trickery). There are repercussions for this evil and it points to death. Verse 19 says "As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues ...