Proverbs 6:1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Practical Admonitions
6 My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself to another,[a](A)
2 you are snared by the utterance of your lips,[b]
caught by the words of your mouth.
3 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.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;(B)
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter,[d]
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.(C)
Proverbs 6:1-5
Common English Bible
Wise advice
6 My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor
or shake hands in agreement with a stranger,
2 you will be trapped by your words;
you will be caught by your words.
3 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.
4 Don’t give sleep to your eyes
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Get yourself free like a gazelle from a hunter,
like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 6:3 Heb uncertain
Proverbs 11:15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 To guarantee loans for a stranger brings trouble,
but there is safety in refusing to do so.
Proverbs 11:15
Common English Bible
15 Guaranteeing the debt of a stranger brings big trouble,
but the one who refuses to shake hands will be secure.
Proverbs 17:18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 It is senseless to give a pledge,
to become surety for a neighbor.(A)
Proverbs 17:18
Common English Bible
18 One with no sense shakes hands on a deal,
securing a loan for a friend.
Proverbs 20:16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.
Proverbs 20:16
Common English Bible
16 Take the garment of the person who secures a loan for a stranger;
take his pledge for a foreigner.
Proverbs 22:7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.(A)
Proverbs 22:7
Common English Bible
7 The wealthy rule over the poor;
a borrower is a slave to a lender.
Proverbs 22:26-27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
26 Do not be one of those who give pledges,
who become surety for debts.(A)
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
Proverbs 22:26-27
Common English Bible
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?
Proverbs 27:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.[a](A)
Proverbs 27:13
Common English Bible
13 Take the garment of the person who secures a loan for a stranger;
take his pledge for a foreigner.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible