12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge(A) in your possession. 13 Return their cloak by sunset(B) so that your neighbor may sleep in it.(C) Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.(D)

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Warnings Against Folly

My son,(A) if you have put up security(B) for your neighbor,(C)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge(D) for a stranger,
you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.(E)
Free yourself, like a gazelle(F) from the hand of the hunter,(G)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 6:3 Or Go and humble yourself,

15 Whoever puts up security(A) for a stranger will surely suffer,
    but whoever refuses to shake hands in pledge is safe.(B)

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13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
    hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.(A)

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