Daily reading
Proverbs · VI · 1–5
Proverbs 6:1–5 · NLT
XX · X · MMXXVI
Key verses · Proverbs 6:1–5 · NLT
3ollow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. (NLT)
4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. (NLT)
5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net. (NLT)
Proverbs 6:1–5 · New Living Translation
1y child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger,
2if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said,
3follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy. Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.
4Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
5Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net. (NLT)
A note on Scripture quoting
We’ve hit this translation’s public quoting limit for now, so this is a good time to pick up your own Bible and read the rest of the passage.
In short
Chapter 6 opens a run of practical life lessons, and the first one is about words that bind you. In that world, putting up security meant promising to cover someone else’s debt if they couldn’t pay. A quick handshake could put your whole household at the mercy of another person’s choices. The father isn’t saying never help a friend. He’s saying a rash promise can become a trap, and you’re caught by what you said.
His advice is blunt and urgent. Don’t stew on it, don’t hope it works out, and don’t let pride keep you stuck. Go humbly, ask to be released, and don’t rest until it’s settled. Like a gazelle or a bird near a net, the wise move is to get free quickly while you still can.
Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do. (NLT)
Proverbs 6:4
Try today
Think of one yes you gave too quickly that’s now weighing on you, a commitment, a favor, or a promise you can’t really keep. Today, humbly reach out and either settle it or ask to be released. And before you say yes to anything new, pause long enough to ask whether you can truly carry it.