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On Lending and Borrowing

29The merciful lend to their neighbours;
   by holding out a helping hand they keep the commandments.
² Lend to your neighbour in his time of need;
   repay your neighbour when a loan falls due.
³ Keep your promise 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.
⁵ One kisses another’s hands until he gets a loan,
   and is deferential in speaking of his neighbour’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^* will hardly get back half,
   and will regard that as a windfall.
If he cannot pay, the borrower^* 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 dishonour.
⁷ Many refuse to lend, not because of meanness,
   but from fear^* of being defrauded needlessly.

⁸ Nevertheless, be patient with someone in humble circumstances,
   and do not keep him waiting for your alms.
⁹ Help the poor for the commandment’s sake,
   and in their need do not send them away empty-handed.
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.
¹² Store up almsgiving in your treasury,
   and it will rescue you from every disaster;
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 neighbour,
   but 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.
¹⁹ The sinner comes to grief through surety;
   his pursuit of gain involves him in lawsuits.
²⁰ Assist your neighbour 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.
²² Better is the life of the poor under their own crude roof
   than sumptuous food in the house of others.
²³ Be content with little or much,
   and you will hear no reproach for being a guest.^*
24 It is a miserable life to go from house to house;
   as a guest you should not open your mouth;
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 honoured guest is here;
   my brother has come for a visit, and I need the guest-room.’
²⁸ It is hard for a sensitive person to bear
   scolding about lodging^* and the insults of the moneylender.