Sirach 29

NEW JERUSALEM	MODERN HEBREW BIBLE
1 Making your neighbour a loan is an act of mercy, to lend him a helping hand is to keep thecommandments.
2 Lend to your neighbour in his time of need, and in your turn repay your neighbour on time.
3 Be as good as your word and keep faith with him, and you wil find your needs met every time.
4 Many treat a loan as a windfal , and embarrass those who have come to their rescue.
5 Until he gets something, a man wil kiss his neighbour's hand, and refer diffidently to his wealth; butwhen the loan fal s due, he puts this off, he repays with offhand words, and pleads the inconvenience of the time.
6 Even if he can be made to pay, his creditor wil recover barely half, and consider even that a windfal .But otherwise he wil be cheated of his money, and undeservedly gain himself an enemy; the man wil pay himback in curses and abuse, and with insults instead of honour.
7 Many, not out of malice, refuse to lend; they are merely anxious not to be cheated for nothing.
8 Nevertheless, be patient with those who are badly off, do not keep them waiting on your generosity.
9 In obedience to the commandment, help the poor; do not turn the poor away empty-handed in theirneed.
10 Spend your money on your brother or your friend, do not leave it under a stone to rust away.
11 Use your wealth as the Most High has decreed; you will find that more profitable than gold.
12 Stock your store-rooms with almsgiving; this will save you from al misfortune.
13 Better than sturdy shield or weighty spear, this will fight for you against the enemy.
14 A good man wil go surety for his neighbour; only a shameless wretch would desert him.
15 Do not forget the favour your guarantor has done you; he has given his life for you.
16 A sinner is careless of his guarantor's prosperity, the ungrateful forgets his deliverer.
17 Going surety has ruined many who were prosperous, tossing them about in a heavy sea.
18 It has driven the powerful from home to wander among foreign nations.
19 A wicked man in a hurry to stand guarantor in the hope of profit, is hurrying to be sentenced.
20 Come to your neighbour's help as far as you can, but take care not to fall into the same plight.
21 The first thing in life is water, and bread, and clothing, and a house for the sake of privacy.
22 Better the life of the poor under a roof of planks, than lavish fare in somebody else's house.
23 Whether you have little or much, be content with it, and you wil not hear your household complaining.
24 It is a miserable life, going from house to house; wherever you stay, you dare not open your mouth,
25 you do not belong, you receive no thanks for the drink you pour out and hear embittering words intothe bargain:
26 'Come along, stranger, lay the table, what have you got ready? give me something to eat!'
27 'Go away, stranger, make room for someone important; my brother is coming to stay, I need thehouse.'
28 It is hard for the reasonable to be begrudged hospitality to be shamed like a debtor.