Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 27:13 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman! "
Proverbs 27:13
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.
15 A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
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This same warning appears earlier, in Proverbs 20:16. It shows who are rushing toward poverty, people who have so little good sense that they will go surety for anyone who asks, and people who waste their money on loose living. Such people will borrow as much as their credit allows, but they will surely cheat their creditors in the end. In truth, they are cheating them all along. An honest man may be brought to poverty, but a man is not honest if he brings himself there by careless living.
The verse also teaches us to be wise in handling our money, so we do not lend to people who are clearly wasting their estates unless they give very good security. Careless lending is unfair to our own families. It does not say, “Get someone else to back him,” because a man who makes himself a common guarantor will end up with helpers who are as unable to pay as he is. So take his garment, that is, require clear security before you lend.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 27:1
"Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring."
Proverbs 27:2
"Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips."
Proverbs 27:3
"A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both."
Proverbs 27:4
"Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?"
Proverbs 27:5
"Better is open rebuke than hidden love."
Proverbs 27:6
"The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse."
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