Ben Sira 29:22-28

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:

26 "Stranger! Come here and set the table! I want to eat what you've got there! Give it here!

27 Go away, stranger! I've got an important guest! My brother is coming to visit, and I need the room!"

28 Being denied hospitality or having a moneylender hound you - these are hard things for any sensitive person to endure.

Footnotes

• [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.