22
If you open your mouth against your friend, do not worry, for reconciliation is possible. But as for reviling, arrogance, disclosure of secrets, or a treacherous blow— in these cases any friend will take to flight.
23
Gain the trust of your neighbor in his poverty, so that you may rejoice with him in his prosperity. Stand by him in time of distress, so that you may share with him in his inheritance.
24
The vapor and smoke of the furnace precede the fire; so insults precede bloodshed.
25
I am not ashamed to shelter a friend, and I will not hide from him.
26
But if harm should come to me because of him, whoever hears of it will beware of him.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.