| 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. |