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!

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Footnotes

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

Financial Entanglements

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor[a]
or entered into an agreement with[b] a stranger,[c](A)
you have been trapped by the words of your lips[d]
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
Do this, then, my son, and free yourself,
for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power:
Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:1 Or friend
  2. Proverbs 6:1 Lit or shaken hands for or with
  3. Proverbs 6:1 The Hb word for stranger can refer to a foreigner, an Israelite outside one’s family, or simply to another person.
  4. Proverbs 6:2 Lit mouth

18 One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge
    and puts up security for a neighbor.(A)

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18 One without sense enters an agreement[a]
and puts up security for his friend.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:18 Lit sense shakes hands

16 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
    hold it in pledge(A) if it is done for an outsider.(B)

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16 Take his garment,[a]
for he has put up security for a stranger;
get collateral if it is for foreigners.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:16 A debtor’s outer garment was held as collateral.

The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

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The rich rule over the poor,(A)
and the borrower is a slave to the lender.(B)

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13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
    hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.(A)

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13 Take his garment,[a]
for he has put up security for a stranger;
get collateral if it is for foreigners.[b](A)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:13 A debtor’s outer garment held as collateral; Dt 24:12-13,17; Jb 22:6; Am 2:8
  2. Proverbs 27:13 Lit a foreign woman

Saying 4

26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge(A)
    or puts up security for debts;
27 if you lack the means to pay,
    your very bed will be snatched from under you.(B)

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26 Don’t be one of those who enter agreements,[a]
who put up security for loans.(A)
27 If you have no money to pay,
even your bed will be taken from under you.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:26 Lit who shakes hands