6 My son, if you have become a ^(A)guarantor for your neighbor,
Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
² If you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth,
Or caught by the words of your mouth,
³ 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.
⁴ Give no ^(B)sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
⁵ Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter’s hand,
And like a ^(C)bird from the hand of the fowler.

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.

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

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

⁷ The ^(A)rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.