Warnings Against Folly

My son,(A) if you have put up security(B) for your neighbor,(C)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge(D) for a stranger,
you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.(E)
Free yourself, like a gazelle(F) from the hand of the hunter,(G)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,

Practical Admonitions

My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
    if you have bound yourself to another,[a](A)
you are snared by the utterance of your lips,[b]
    caught by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my child, and save yourself,
    for you have come into your neighbor’s power:
    go, hurry,[c] and plead with your neighbor.
Give your eyes no sleep
    and your eyelids no slumber;(B)
save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[d]
    like a bird from the hand of the fowler.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 6.1 Or a stranger
  2. 6.2 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb the words of your mouth
  3. 6.3 Or humble yourself
  4. 6.5 Cn: Heb from the hand