American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Be thou not one of them that strike hands,Or of them that are sureties for debts.
If thou hast not wherewith to pay,Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor,If thou hast stricken {Or, thy hand with a stranger}thy hands for a stranger;
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,Thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,Seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbor:Go, {Or, bestir}humble thyself, and importune thy neighbor;
Give not sleep to thine eyes,Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Deliver thyself as a {Or, gazelle}roe from the hand of the hunter,And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
He that is surety for a stranger {Hebrew: shall be sore broken.}shall smart for it;But he that hateth {Hebrew: those that strike hands.}suretyship is secure.
A man void of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding striketh hands,And becometh surety in the presence of his neighbor.
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;And {Or, take a pledge of him}hold him in pledge that is surety for {Another reading is, a foreign woman.}foreigners.
If thou at all take thy neighbor's garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him before the sun goeth down: