Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 29

¹ Making your neighbour a loan is an act of mercy, to lend him a helping hand is to keep the commandments.

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 will find your needs met every time.

⁴ Many treat a loan as a windfall, and embarrass those who have come to their rescue.

⁵ Until he gets something, a man will kiss his neighbour’s hand, and refer to his wealth in respectful tones; but when the loan falls 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 will barely recover half, and consider even that a windfall. But otherwise he will be cheated of his money, and undeservedly gain himself an enemy; the man will pay him back in curses and recriminations, and instead of respect will have contempt for him.

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 For the commandment’s sake go to the poor man’s help, do not turn him away empty-handed in his need.

¹⁰ Better let your silver go on brother or friend, do not let it go to waste, rusting under a stone.

¹¹ Invest your treasure as the Most High orders, and you will find it more profitable than gold.

¹² Deposit generosity in your storerooms and it will release you from every misfortune.

¹³ Better than sturdy shield or weighty spear, it will fight for you against the enemy.

¹⁴ A good man will go surety for his neighbour; a man has lost all shame if he fails 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, an ungrateful man forgets the one who saved him.

¹⁷ Going surety has ruined many prosperous men and rocked them like a wave of the sea.

¹⁸ It has driven powerful men from home to wander among foreign nations.

¹⁹ The sinner who involves himself with guarantees, in pursuit of a deal, will find himself involved in lawsuits.

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 a poor man’s life under a roof of planks, than lavish fare in the house of another.

²³ Whether you have little or much, be content with it, and you will not be dubbed an intruder.

²⁴ It is a miserable life, going from house to house; wherever you stay, not daring to open your mouth;

²⁵ you are a stranger, you know the taste of humiliation, not to mention the sound of embittering words,

²⁶ ‘Come along, stranger, lay the table, if you have anything with you, give it to me to eat’.

²⁷ ‘Go away, stranger, make room for someone important; my brother is coming to stay, I need the house.’

²⁸ It is hard for a cultured man to hear himself begrudged hospitality and treated like an undischarged debtor.