Ben Sira 29:15-25

15 If someone does this favor for you, don't forget it; he has risked his good name for you.
16 There are some ungrateful sinners who abandon those who stand behind them, and they cause them loss of property.
17 Guaranteeing loans has ruined many prosperous people and caused them unsettling storms of trouble.
18 Influential people have lost their homes over it and have had to go wandering in foreign countries.
19 A sinner who hopes to make a profit by guaranteeing a loan is going to find himself involved in lawsuits.
20 So help your neighbor as much as you can, but protect yourself against the dangers involved.
21 The necessities of life are water, food, clothing, and a home where you can have privacy.
22 It is better to be poor and live under your own crude roof than to enjoy lavish banquets in other people's homes.
23 Be happy with what you have, even if it isn't very much, and don't listen to anyone who would insult your home and family.
24 Going from house to house is a miserable way to live. Anywhere you go, you don't dare speak.
25 You welcome the guests and pour the drinks, and nobody thanks you. Instead, people humiliate you by saying things like:

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. don't listen . . . family; [or] don't listen to insults from your family; [some manuscripts do not have these words; one ancient translation has] don't get a reputation for living off other people.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.