The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Ecclesiasticus
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Chapter 29
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1
Heart full of kindness and hand full of comfort will keep the commandment, Lend to thy neighbour.
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Neighbour must borrow easily when he needs, must repay readily when his need is over.
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Keep thy bond, deal faithfully, and thou shalt never lack.
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Out upon the man that treats loan as treasure trove, and is a burden to his benefactor!
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What, kiss the hand that gives, and make humble promises of repayment;
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then, when the debt falls due, ask for grace, and complain peevishly of hard times?
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Pay grudgingly when pay thou canst, offer but half the sum, and count it a windfall for the lender?
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Or, if thou canst not, disown the debt and make an enemy of him,
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rewarding thy benefactor not with due honour, but with angry curse and reproach?
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What wonder if many refuse to lend, not churlishly but for fear of wilful wrong?
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Yet I would have thee patient with needy folk; do not keep them waiting for thy charity;
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befriend them, as the law commands, nor ever send them away in their misery empty-handed.
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It is thy brother, thy friend that asks; better lose thy money than leave it to rust in a vault.
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Lay up store for thyself by obeying the commandments of the most High; more than gold it shall profit thee;
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the good deed treasured in poor men’s hearts shall ransom thee from all harm,
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shall more avail than stout shield or lance
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to ward off thy enemies.
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Kindness bids thee go bail for thy neighbour; he has lost all shame if he plays thee false.✻
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And if another goes bail for thee, do not forget the benefit done thee; he gave his life for thine.
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It is right foully done to play a surety false;
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wouldst thou treat his goods as if they were thy own? Wouldst thou, ungrateful wretch, leave thy ransomer to suffer for it?
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Men have gone bail ere now for shameless friends that so abandoned them.
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By going bail for scoundrels, men of good fortune have fallen upon ruin and shipwreck;
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men that held their heads high must now wander far and wide, exiles in strange countries.
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Leave godless sinners to become sureties to their ruin; men that take rash ventures to fall into the law’s clutches.
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For thyself, relieve thy neighbour as thy means allow, but never to thy own entanglement.
28
What are man’s first needs? Water, and bread, and clothing, and the privacy of a home.
29
Better the poor man’s fare under his roof of bare boards, than to be guest at a splendid banquet, and home have none.
30
Make much of the little thou hast; never be it thine to bear the reproach of a wanderer.
31
A wretched life it is, passing on from house to house to find a welcome; that welcome found, thou wilt lack all confidence, and sit there mumchance.
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Then, when thou hast helped to entertain, with food and drink, the guests that owe thee no thanks, thou wilt have a poor reward for it:
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Up, wanderer! Lay me a fresh table, and what lies before thee hand to others;
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I have honoured guests coming, and thou must make way for them; a kinsman of mine stands in need of my hospitality!
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Bitter words for an honest man to hear; shall he owe his bread to one that reviles him as homeless?
