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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

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.

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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

17 A friend loves at all times,
    and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.(A)

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17 A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is there[a] for times of trouble.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:17 Lit. born

10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
    your strength being small;(A)

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10 If you grow weary when times are troubled,
    your strength is limited.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:10 Or undersized

10 Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent;
    do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is nearby
    than kindred who are far away.(A)

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10 Never abandon your friend nor your father’s friend,
    and don’t go to your brother’s house in times of trouble.
A neighbor who is near is better
    than a brother who lives far away.

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