1  My son, if you have put up ^esecurity for your neighbor,

have ^egiven your pledge for a stranger,

2  if you are ^fsnared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth,

3  then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten,¹ and ^gplead urgently with your neighbor.

4  ^hGive your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber;

5  save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,²

ⁱlike a bird from the hand of the fowler.

17  ^kA friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

10  If you ⁱfaint in the day of adversity,

your strength is small.

10  Do not forsake your friend and ^hyour father’s friend,

and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.

ⁱBetter is a neighbor who is near

than a brother who is far away.