Ben Sira 29:10-20

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 all affliction;
13 more than a mighty shield and more than a heavy spear, it will fight on your behalf against your enemy.
14 A good man will be surety for his neighbor, but a man who has lost his sense of shame will fail him.
15 Do not forget all the kindness of your surety, for he has given his life for you.
16 A sinner will overthrow the prosperity of his surety,
17 and one who does not feel grateful will abandon his rescuer.
18 Being surety has ruined many men who were prosperous, and has shaken them like a wave of the sea; it has driven men of power into exile, and they have wandered among foreign nations.
19 The sinner who has fallen into suretyship and pursues gain will fall into lawsuits.
20 Assist your neighbor according to your ability, but take heed to yourself lest you fall.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.