Sirach 29 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

On Lending and Borrowing

29 The merciful lend to their neighbors;
by holding out a helping hand they keep the commandments.^(A)
2 Lend to your neighbor in his time of need;
repay your neighbor when a loan falls due.^(B)
3 Keep your word and be honest with him,
and on every occasion you will find what you need.
⁴ Many regard a loan as a windfall
and cause trouble to those who help them.^(C)
5 One kisses another’s hands until he gets a loan
and is deferential in speaking of his neighbor’s money,
but at the time for repayment he delays
and pays back with empty promises
and finds fault with the time.
⁶ If he can pay, his creditor^[a] will hardly get back half
and will regard that as a windfall.
If he cannot pay, the borrower^[b] has robbed the other of his money,
and he has needlessly made him an enemy;
he will repay him with curses and reproaches
and instead of glory will repay him with dishonor.^(D)
7 Many refuse to lend, not because of meanness,
but from fear^[c] of being defrauded needlessly.^(E)

⁸ Nevertheless, be patient with someone in humble circumstances,
and do not keep him waiting for your alms.^(F)
9 Help the poor for the commandment’s sake,
and in their need do not send them away empty-handed.^(G)
10 Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend,
and do not let it rust under a stone and be lost.
¹¹ Lay up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High,
and it will profit you more than gold.^(H)
12 Store up almsgiving in your treasury,
and it will rescue you from every disaster;^(I)
13 better than a stout shield and a sturdy spear,
it will fight for you against the enemy.

On Guaranteeing Debts

¹⁴ A good person will be surety for his neighbor,
but the one who has lost all sense of shame will fail him.
¹⁵ Do not forget the kindness of your guarantor,
for he has given his life for you.
¹⁶ A sinner wastes the property of his guarantor,
¹⁷ and the ungrateful person abandons his rescuer.
¹⁸ Being surety has ruined many who were prosperous
and has tossed them about like waves of the sea;
it has driven the influential into exile,
and they have wandered among foreign nations.^(J)
19 The sinner comes to grief through surety;
his pursuit of gain involves him in lawsuits.
²⁰ Assist your neighbor to the best of your ability,
but be careful not to fall yourself.

Home and Hospitality

²¹ The necessities of life are water, bread, and clothing,
and also a house to assure privacy.^(K)
22 Better is the life of the poor under their own crude roof
than sumptuous food in the house of strangers.^(L)
23 Be content with little or much,
and you will hear no reproach for being a guest.^[d](M)
24 It is a miserable life to go from house to house;
as a guest you should not open your mouth;^(N)
25 you will play the host and provide drink without being thanked,
and besides this you will hear rude words like these:
²⁶ “Come here, stranger, prepare the table;
let me eat what you have there.”
²⁷ “Be off, stranger, for an honored guest is here;
my brother has come for a visit, and I need the house.”^(O)
28 It is hard for a sensible person to bear
scolding about lodging^[e] and the insults of the moneylender.^(P)

Footnotes

1. 29.6Gk he
2. 29.6Gk he
3. 29.7Other ancient authorities read many refuse to lend, therefore, because of such meanness; they are afraid
4. 29.23Lat: Gk reproach from your family; other ancient authorities lack this line
5. 29.28Or scolding from the household

Cross references

1. 29.1 : Lev 25.35; Ps 37.26
2. 29.2 : Deut 15.8; Sir 4.31
3. 29.4 : v 6; Sir 8.12
4. 29.6 : v 4
5. 29.7 : Sir 4.31
6. 29.8 : Prov 19.17
7. 29.9 : Deut 15.7; 1 Jn 3.17
8. 29.11 : v 1; Dan 4.27; Tob 4.7; Mt 19.21; 1 Tim 6.17–19
9. 29.12 : Tob 4.9; Sir 40.24
10. 29.18 : Prov 6.1, 2; 11.15
11. 29.21 : Sir 39.26
12. 29.22 : Sir 40.29
13. 29.23 : 1 Tim 6.6, 8
14. 29.24 : Sir 36.31
15. 29.27 : Lk 14.9
16. 29.28 : Prov 22.7; Sir 31.31