Parental Counsel

My son, if you have become a (A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
Then do this, my son, and save yourself:
Since you have come into the [a]hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.
Give no (B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a (C)bird from the hand of the fowler.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm

The Folly of Guaranteeing Loans

My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor,
if you have agreed to a deal[a] with a stranger,
trapped by your own words,
    and caught by your own words,
then do this, my son, and deliver yourself,
    because you have come under your neighbor’s control.[b]
Go, humble yourself!
    Plead passionately with your neighbor!
Don’t allow yourself to sleep
    or even to close your eyes.
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a hunter’s hand,[c]
    or like a bird from a fowler’s hand.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:1 Lit. have clapped your hands; i.e. have shaken hands
  2. Proverbs 6:3 Lit. into the hands of your neighbor
  3. Proverbs 6:5 So MT; LXX Syr Targ read from the hunter; or a noose

15 One who is a (A)guarantor for a stranger will certainly suffer for it,
But one who hates [a]being a guarantor is secure.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 11:15 Lit those who strike hands

15 Securing a loan for a stranger will bring suffering,
    but by refusing to do so, one remains safe.

Read full chapter

18 A person lacking in [a]sense (A)shakes hands
And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:18 Lit heart

18 A man who lacks sense[a] cosigns a loan,[b]
    becoming a guarantor for his neighbor.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:18 Lit. heart
  2. Proverbs 17:18 Lit. sense strikes the palm

16 Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger;
And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.

Read full chapter

16 Take the garment of anyone who puts up collateral for a stranger;
    hold it in pledge if he does it for an unfamiliar woman.

Read full chapter

26 Do not be among those who (A)shake hands,
Among those who become guarantors for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to repay,
Why should he (B)take your bed from under you?

Read full chapter

26 Don’t be one of those who make promises
    to guarantee loans for debts.
27 If you don’t have the ability to pay,
    why should your very bed be taken from under you?

Read full chapter