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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.
Don’t put it off; do it now!
    Don’t rest until you do.
Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
    like a bird fleeing from a net.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:1 Hebrew My son.

Son, if you endorse a note for someone you hardly know, guaranteeing his debt, you are in serious trouble. You may have trapped yourself by your agreement. Quick! Get out of it if you possibly can! Swallow your pride; don’t let embarrassment stand in the way. Go and beg to have your name erased. Don’t put it off. Do it now. Don’t rest until you do. If you can get out of this trap you have saved yourself like a deer that escapes from a hunter or a bird from the net.

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15 There’s danger in putting up security for a stranger’s debt;
    it’s safer not to guarantee another person’s debt.

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15 Be sure you know a person well before you vouch for his credit! Better refuse than suffer later.

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

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18 It is poor judgment to countersign another’s note, to become responsible for his debts.

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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 It is risky to make loans to strangers!

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

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

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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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26-27 Unless you have the extra cash on hand, don’t countersign a note. Why risk everything you own? They’ll even take your bed!

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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 The world’s poorest credit risk is the man who agrees to pay a stranger’s debts.

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