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Lessons for Daily Life

My child,[a] if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
    or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
    and are caught by what you said—
follow my advice and save yourself,
    for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride;
    go and beg to have your name erased.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:1 Hebrew My son.

Wise advice

My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor
    or shake hands in agreement with a stranger,
    you will be trapped by your words;
    you will be caught by your words.
Do this, my son, to get out of it,
    for you have come under the control of your neighbor.
    So go, humble yourself,[a] and pester your neighbor.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Heb uncertain

18 It’s poor judgment to guarantee another person’s debt
    or put up security for a friend.

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18 One with no sense shakes hands on a deal,
    securing a loan for a friend.

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16 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.
    Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 20:16 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text is for a promiscuous woman.

16 Take the garment of the person who secures a loan for a stranger;
    take his pledge for a foreigner.

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Just as the rich rule the poor,
    so the borrower is servant to the lender.

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The wealthy rule over the poor;
    a borrower is a slave to a lender.

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13 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.
    Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 27:13 As in Greek and Latin versions (see also 20:16); Hebrew reads for a promiscuous woman.

13 Take the garment of the person who secures a loan for a stranger;
    take his pledge for a foreigner.

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26 Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt
    or put up security for someone else.
27 If you can’t pay it,
    even your bed will be snatched from under you.

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26 Don’t shake hands to guarantee a loan.
27 If you can’t repay,
    why should they be able to take your bed from you?

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