Lending and Borrowing

¹Those who show mercy lend to their neighbors.

By giving them help, they are obeying the commandments.

²Lend to your neighbors in their time of need,

and pay your neighbor when your loan is due.

³Keep your word and be honest with them,

and you will always find what you need.

⁴Many look upon a loan as a windfall

and give trouble to those who help them.

⁵They kiss someone’s hand until they get a loan from them,

and they make themselves appear humble as they speak of their neighbor’s wealth.

But when the time comes to repay, they put it off

by repaying with only empty promises

and complaining about the lack of time.

⁶And if they are able to pay, the lender will hardly get back half

and will consider himself fortunate to get that much.

They will repay the creditor with insults and curses

and with dishonor rather than praise.

⁷Many have refused to lend, not out of their own meanness,

but simply because they are afraid of being defrauded without reason.

⁸Nevertheless, be patient with those in poverty,

and do not keep them waiting for your gifts of charity.

⁹Help the poor in obedience to the commandment,

and do not send the needy away empty-handed.

¹⁰Lose your money for the sake of your brother or your friend.

Don’t let it rust away under a stone.

¹¹Store up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High,

and it will bring you more profit than gold.

¹²Store up gifts for charity in your treasury,

and they will bring you help in every disaster.

¹³Such gifts are better than a strong shield and a sturdy spear.

They will fight for you against your enemy.

¹⁴A good person will cosign a loan for his neighbor,

but a shameless person will let his neighbor down.

¹⁵Never forget the kindness of your guarantor,

for he has given his life for you.

¹⁶The sinner wastes the property of his guarantor,

and the ungrateful person abandons his rescuer.

¹⁷Cosigning for others has ruined many wealthy people

and tossed them about like waves of the sea.

¹⁸It has driven the powerful into exile,

and they have wandered in foreign lands.

¹⁹Sinners fall into trouble by cosigning.

Their pursuit for profit leads to lawsuits.

²⁰Assist your neighbor as best you can,

but be careful that you don’t fall yourself.

Contentment

²¹The essentials for life are water, bread, and clothing,

and a house for privacy.

²²Better is the life of the poor under their own simple roof

than lavish banquets among strangers.

²³Be content with little or plenty;

then you will not be known for living on others’ hospitality.

²⁴It is a miserable life to go from house to house,

for as a guest, you can’t say anything.

²⁵You must act as a host and provide drinks without being thanked,

and you even hear rude words like:

²⁶“Come here, stranger, and set the table.

Let me eat whatever you have.”

²⁷“You must leave now. An honored guest is coming.

My brother has come to visit, and I need the guest room.”

²⁸Two things are upsetting to a conscientious person:

to be scolded about lodging and to be reproached by creditors.