1
My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
2
if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said—
3
follow 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.
4
Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
5
Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.
6
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!
7
Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,
8
they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
9
But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
10
A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—