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Dangers of Being Foolish

My ·child [L son], ·be careful about giving [L if you make] a guarantee for ·somebody else’s loan [L your neighbor/friend],
    ·about promising to pay what someone else owes [L shaking hands with a stranger in agreement; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13].
You ·might [or will] get trapped by what you say;
    you ·might [or will] be caught by ·your own words [or what you say].
My ·child [L son], if you have done this and are under your ·neighbor’s [or friend’s] control,
    here is how to ·get free [extricate yourself].
·Don’t be proud [L Humble yourself]. Go to your ·neighbor [or friend]
    and ·beg to be free from your promise [L press/urge your neighbor/friend].
Don’t ·go to [L let your eyes] sleep
    or ·even rest your eyes [L let your eyelids/pupils slumber],
but ·free [extricate] yourself like a ·deer [gazelle] running from ·a hunter [L his hand],
    like a bird flying away from a ·trapper [fowler].

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Parental Counsel

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

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Lit palm

17 A friend loves you all the time,
and a brother ·helps in [L is born for a] time of trouble.

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17 A (A)friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

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10 If you ·give up [show yourself weak] ·when trouble comes [L on the day of distress/trouble],
it shows that ·you are weak [L your strength is small].

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10 If you (A)show yourself lacking courage on the day of distress,
Your strength is meager.

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10 Don’t ·forget [abandon] your friend or your parent’s friend.
    Don’t always go to your ·family for help [brother] when trouble comes.
A neighbor close by is better than a ·family [brother] far away.

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10 Do not abandon your (A)friend or (B)your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

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