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29:1  The merciful lend to their neighbours; by holding out a helping hand they keep the commandments.
29:2  Lend to your neighbour in his time of need; repay your neighbour when a loan falls due.
29:3  Keep your promise and be honest with him, and on every occasion you will find what you need.
29:4  Many regard a loan as a windfall, and cause trouble to those who help them.
29:5  One kisses another’s hands until he gets a loan, and is deferential in speaking of his neighbour’s money; but at the time for repayment he delays, and pays back with empty promises, and finds fault with the time.
29:6  If he can pay, his creditor will hardly get back half, and will regard that as a windfall. If he cannot pay, the borrower has robbed the other of his money, and he has needlessly made him an enemy; he will repay him with curses and reproaches, and instead of glory will repay him with dishonour.
29:7  Many refuse to lend, not because of meanness, but from fear of being defrauded needlessly.
29:8  Nevertheless, be patient with someone in humble circumstances, and do not keep him waiting for your alms.
29:9  Help the poor for the commandment’s sake, and in their need do not send them away empty-handed.
29:10  Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend, and do not let it rust under a stone and be lost.
29:11  Lay up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, and it will profit you more than gold.
29:12  Store up almsgiving in your treasury, and it will rescue you from every disaster;
29:13  better than a stout shield and a sturdy spear, it will fight for you against the enemy.
29:14  A good person will be surety for his neighbour, but one who has lost all sense of shame will fail him.
29:15  Do not forget the kindness of your guarantor, for he has given his life for you.
29:16  A sinner wastes the property of his guarantor,
29:17  and the ungrateful person abandons his rescuer.
29:18  Being surety has ruined many who were prosperous, and has tossed them about like waves of the sea; it has driven the influential into exile, and they have wandered among foreign nations.
29:19  The sinner comes to grief through surety; his pursuit of gain involves him in lawsuits.
29:20  Assist your neighbour to the best of your ability, but be careful not to fall yourself.
29:21  The necessities of life are water, bread, and clothing, and also a house to assure privacy.
29:22  Better is the life of the poor under their own crude roof than sumptuous food in the house of others.
29:23  Be content with little or much, and you will hear no reproach for being a guest.
29:24  It is a miserable life to go from house to house; as a guest you should not open your mouth;
29:25  you will play the host and provide drink without being thanked, and besides this you will hear rude words like these:
29:26  ‘Come here, stranger, prepare the table; let me eat what you have there.’
29:27  ‘Be off, stranger, for an honoured guest is here; my brother has come for a visit, and I need the guest-room.’
29:28  It is hard for a sensitive person to bear scolding about lodging and the insults of the moneylender.