My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge 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 - and give your neighbor no rest!
Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Proverbs 6:1-5

Commentary

This verse is a warning about debt in general and cosigning in particular. The protagonist of this Proverb has guaranteed another person’s loan. It’s time to be free of this debt. It’s time to struggle away! Like an animal that’s being hunted, it’s time to run for your life!