Sirach · Catholic Public Domain Version
Sirach 29 Catholic Public Domain Version
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 He shows mercy who lends to his neighbor, for he keeps the commandments by strengthening him.
1 He who shows mercy will lend to his neighbor. He who strengthens him with his hand keeps the commandments.
2 Lend to your neighbor in his time of need, and receive it again from your neighbor in his time.
2 Lend to your neighbor in time of his need. Repay your neighbor on time.
3 Keep your word, and act faithfully with him, and then you will find whatever you need in every time.
3 Confirm your word, and keep faith with him; and at all seasons you will find what you need.
4 Many have treated a loan like found money, and they offered trouble to those who helped them.
4 Many have considered a loan to be a windfall, and have given trouble to those who helped them.
5 Until they receive, they kiss the hands of the giver, and they humble their voice in promises.
5 Until he has received, he will kiss a man’s hands. For his neighbor’s money he will speak submissively. Then when payment is due, he will prolong the time, return excuses, and complain about the season.
6 But at the time of repayment, they will ask for more time, and they will speak annoying and complaining words, and they will make excuses for the time.
6 If he prevails, the creditor will hardly receive half; and he will count it as a windfall. If not, he has deprived him of his money, and he has gotten him for an enemy without cause. He will pay him with cursing and railing. Instead of honor, he will pay him disgrace.
7 Then, if he is able to repay, he will turn away. He will pay barely one half, and he will consider it as if he had found it.
7 Many on account of fraud have turned away. They are afraid of being defrauded for nothing.
8 But if not, then he will defraud him of his money, and he will have him as an enemy without cause.
8 However be patient with a man in poor estate. Don’t keep him waiting for your alms.
9 And he will repay him with accusations and curses, and he will repay him with contempt, instead of with honor and kindness.
9 Help a poor man for the commandment’s sake. According to his need don’t send him empty away.
10 Many have refused to lend, not because of wickedness, but because they were afraid to be defrauded without cause.
10 Lose your money for a brother and a friend. Don’t let it rust under a stone and be lost.
11 Yet truly, be more steadfast toward the humble, and you should not delay in acts of mercy toward them.
11 Allocate your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High and it will profit you more than gold.
12 Assist the poor because of the commandment. And you should not send him away empty because of his dire need.
12 Store up almsgiving in your store-chambers and it will deliver you out of all affliction.
13 Lose your money to your brother and your friend. For you should not hide it under a stone to be lost.
13 It will fight for you against your enemy better than a mighty shield and a ponderous spear.
14 Let your treasure be in the precepts of the Most High, and it will benefit you more than gold.
14 A good man will be surety for his neighbor. He who has lost shame will fail him.
15 Store your alms in the hearts of the poor, and it will obtain help for you against all evil.
15 Don’t forget the kindness of your guarantor, for he has given his life for you.
16 Better than the shield or the lance of a powerful man,
16 A sinner will waste the property of his guarantor.
17 it will fight for you against your enemy.
17 He who is thankless will fail him who delivered him.
18 A good man offers credit for the sake of his neighbor. But one who abandons him to himself will perish in shame.
18 Being surety has undone many who were prospering and shaken them as a wave of the sea. It has driven mighty men from their homes. They wandered among foreign nations.
19 You should not forget the kindness of your benefactor. For he has offered his life on your behalf.
19 A sinner who falls into suretiship and undertakes contracts for work will fall into lawsuits.
20 The sinner and the unclean flee from such promises.
20 Help your neighbor according to your power, and be careful not to fall yourself.
21 A sinner attributes to himself the goods of his loan. And an ungrateful mind will abandon the one who has freed him.
21 The essentials of life are water, bread, a garment, and a house for privacy.
22 A man offers credit to his neighbor. But when he will have lost respect, he will abandon him.
22 Better is the life of a poor man under a shelter of logs than sumptuous fare in another man’s house.
23 A wicked promise has destroyed many who had good intentions, and has tossed them like a wave on the ocean.
23 With little or with much, be well satisfied.
24 It has caused powerful men to travel around, and they have wandered amid foreign nations.
24 It is a miserable life to go from house to house. Where you are a guest, you dare not open your mouth.
25 A sinner transgressing the commandment of the Lord will fall into a wicked promise. And he who undertakes many things will fall into judgment.
25 You will entertain, serve drinks, and have no thanks. In addition to this, you will hear bitter words.
26 Help your neighbor to recover according to your ability, but attend to yourself, lest you also fall.
26 “Come here, you sojourner, set a table, and if you have anything in your hand, feed me with it.”
27 The primary need in a man’s life is water and bread, and clothing, and a house to protect modesty.
27 “Leave, you sojourner, for an honored guest is here. My brother has come to be my guest. I need my house.”
28 A pauper’s food under a roof of boards is better than a splendid feast on a sojourn away from home.
28 These things are grievous to a man of understanding: The scolding about lodging and the insults of creditors.
29 Let yourself be pleased with little instead of much, and you will not hear the reproach of being away from home.
29 Not in this translation
30 It is a wicked life to go from house to house as a guest. For wherever he is a guest, he will not act confidently, nor open his mouth.
30 Not in this translation
31 He will entertain, and feed, and give drink to the ungrateful, and beyond this, he will listen to bitter words:
31 Not in this translation
32 “Go, my guest, and set the table, and let others eat from what you have in your hand.”
32 Not in this translation
33 “Depart from the honored face of my friends. For it has become necessary for my house to host my brother instead.”
33 Not in this translation
34 These things are grievous to a man having understanding: to take advantage of a household, and to reproach a lender.
34 Not in this translation
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Shut up alms in the heart of a poor man, and it shall intercede for thee unto the Lord."
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
It is written, "As water quencheth fire, so alms quencheth sin." Again it is written, "Shut up alms in the heart of a poor man, and it shall make supplication for thee before the Lord." Again it is written, "Hear, O king, my counsel, and redeem thy sins by alms." And many other testimonies of the Divine oracles are there, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
… of the life of this world, in which all men are passing along as strangers, and no one abides here as possessor; but to every man it is said, "Thou hast been refreshed, pass on, go on thy way, give place to the next comer." Or perhaps from an evil "way," that is, from an evil life, some friend of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)