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Sirach 29

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1 ὁ ποιῶν ἔλεος δανιεῖ τῷ πλησίον καὶ ὁ ἐπισχύων τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τηρεῖ ἐντολάς 2 δάνεισον τῷ πλησίον ἐν καιρῷ χρείας αὐτοῦ καὶ πάλιν ἀπόδος τῷ πλησίον εἰς τὸν καιρόν 3 στερέωσον λόγον καὶ πιστώθητι με{T'} αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ εὑρήσεις τὴν χρείαν σου 4 πολλοὶ ὡς εὕρεμα ἐνόμισαν δάνος καὶ παρέσχον κόπον τοῖς βοηθήσασιν αὐτοῖς 5 ἕως οὗ λάβῃ καταφιλήσει χεῖρας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χρημάτων τοῦ πλησίον ταπεινώσει φωνήν 6 καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἀποδόσεως παρελκύσει χρόνον καὶ ἀποδώσει λόγους ἀκηδίας καὶ τὸν καιρὸν αἰτιάσεται 7 ἐὰν ἰσχύσῃ μόλις κομίσεται τὸ ἥμισυ καὶ λογιεῖται αὐτὸ ὡς εὕρεμα 8 εἰ δὲ μή ἀπεστέρησεν αὐτὸν τῶν χρημάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκτήσατο αὐτὸν ἐχθρὸν δωρεάν 9 κατάρας καὶ λοιδορίας ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ καὶ ἀντὶ δόξης ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ ἀτιμίαν 10 πολλοὶ οὐ χάριν πονηρίας ἀπέστρεψαν ἀποστερηθῆναι δωρεὰν εὐλαβήθησαν 11 πλὴν ἐπὶ ταπεινῷ μακροθύμησον καὶ ἐ{P'} ἐλεημοσύνῃ μὴ παρελκύσῃς αὐτόν 12 χάριν ἐντολῆς ἀντιλαβοῦ πένητος καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἔνδειαν αὐτοῦ μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς αὐτὸν κενόν 13 ἀπόλεσον ἀργύριον δ{I'} ἀδελφὸν καὶ φίλον καὶ μὴ ἰωθήτω ὑπὸ τὸν λίθον εἰς ἀπώλειαν 14 θὲς τὸν θησαυρόν σου κα{T'} ἐντολὰς ὑψίστου καὶ λυσιτελήσει σοι μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ χρυσίον 15 σύγκλεισον ἐλεημοσύνην ἐν τοῖς ταμιείοις σου καὶ αὕτη ἐξελεῖταί σε ἐκ πάσης κακώσεως 16 ὑπὲρ ἀσπίδα κράτους καὶ ὑπὲρ δόρυ ὁλκῆς κατέναντι ἐχθροῦ πολεμήσει ὑπὲρ σοῦ 18

1 Heart full of kindness and hand full of comfort will keep the commandment, Lend to thy neighbour. 2 Neighbour must borrow easily when he needs, must repay readily when his need is over. 3 Keep thy bond, deal faithfully, and thou shalt never lack. 4 Out upon the man that treats loan as treasure trove, and is a burden to his benefactor! 5 What, kiss the hand that gives, and make humble promises of repayment; 6 then, when the debt falls due, ask for grace, and complain peevishly of hard times? 7 Pay grudgingly when pay thou canst, offer but half the sum, and count it a windfall for the lender? 8 Or, if thou canst not, disown the debt and make an enemy of him, 9 rewarding thy benefactor not with due honour, but with angry curse and reproach? 10 What wonder if many refuse to lend, not churlishly but for fear of wilful wrong? 11 Yet I would have thee patient with needy folk; do not keep them waiting for thy charity; 12 befriend them, as the law commands, nor ever send them away in their misery empty-handed. 13 It is thy brother, thy friend that asks; better lose thy money than leave it to rust in a vault. 14 Lay up store for thyself by obeying the commandments of the most High; more than gold it shall profit thee; 15 the good deed treasured in poor men’s hearts shall ransom thee from all harm, 16 shall more avail than stout shield or lance 18 to ward off thy enemies.

1

Qui facit misericordiam fœneratur proximo suo:
et qui prævalet manu mandata servat. 2
Fœnerare proximo tuo in tempore necessitatis illius:
et iterum redde proximo in tempore suo. 3
Confirma verbum, et fideliter age cum illo:
et in omni tempore invenies quod tibi necessarium est. 4
Multi quasi inventionem æstimaverunt fœnus,
et præstiterunt molestiam his qui se adjuverunt. 5
Donec accipiant, osculantur manus dantis,
et in promissionibus humiliant vocem suam: 6
et in tempore redditionis postulabit tempus,
et loquetur verba tædii et murmurationum,
et tempus causabitur. 7
Si autem potuerit reddere, adversabitur:
solidi vix reddet dimidium,
et computabit illud quasi inventionem: 8
sin autem, fraudabit illum pecunia sua,
et possidebit illum inimicum gratis: 9
et convitia et maledicta reddet illi,
et pro honore et beneficio reddet illi contumeliam. 10
Multi non causa nequitiæ non fœnerati sunt,
sed fraudari gratis timuerunt. 11
Verumtamen super humilem animo fortior esto,
et pro eleemosyna non trahas illum. 12
Propter mandatum assume pauperem,
et propter inopiam ejus ne dimittas eum vacuum. 13
Perde pecuniam propter fratrem et amicum tuum,
et non abscondas illam sub lapide in perditionem. 14
Pone thesaurum tuum in præceptis Altissimi,
et proderit tibi magis quam aurum. 15
Conclude eleemosynam in corde pauperis,
et hæc pro te exorabit ab omni malo. 16
Super scutum potentis, et super lanceam: adversus inimicum tuum pugnabit. 18

19 ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ἐγγυήσεται τὸν πλησίον καὶ ὁ ἀπολωλεκὼς αἰσχύνην ἐγκαταλείψει αὐτόν 20 χάριτας ἐγγύου μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ ἔδωκεν γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ σοῦ 21 22 ἀγαθὰ ἐγγύου ἀνατρέψει ἁμαρτωλός καὶ ἀχάριστος ἐν διανοίᾳ ἐγκαταλείψει ῥυσάμενον 23 24 ἐγγύη πολλοὺς ἀπώλεσεν κατευθύνοντας καὶ ἐσάλευσεν αὐτοὺς ὡς κῦμα θαλάσσης 25 ἄνδρας δυνατοὺς ἀπῴκισεν καὶ ἐπλανήθησαν ἐν ἔθνεσιν ἀλλοτρίοις 26 ἁμαρτωλὸς ἐμπεσὼν εἰς ἐγγύην καὶ διώκων ἐργολαβίας ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς κρίσεις 27 ἀντιλαβοῦ τοῦ πλησίον κατὰ δύναμίν σου καὶ πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ μὴ ἐμπέσῃς

19 Kindness bids thee go bail for thy neighbour; he has lost all shame if he plays thee false.[1] 20 And if another goes bail for thee, do not forget the benefit done thee; he gave his life for thine. 21 It is right foully done to play a surety false; 22 wouldst thou treat his goods as if they were thy own? Wouldst thou, ungrateful wretch, leave thy ransomer to suffer for it? 23 Men have gone bail ere now for shameless friends that so abandoned them. 24 By going bail for scoundrels, men of good fortune have fallen upon ruin and shipwreck; 25 men that held their heads high must now wander far and wide, exiles in strange countries. 26 Leave godless sinners to become sureties to their ruin; men that take rash ventures to fall into the law’s clutches. 27 For thyself, relieve thy neighbour as thy means allow, but never to thy own entanglement.

19

Vir bonus fidem facit pro proximo suo:
et qui perdiderit confusionem derelinquet sibi. 20
Gratiam fidejussoris ne obliviscaris:
dedit enim pro te animam suam. 21
Repromissorem fugit peccator et immundus. 22
Bona repromissoris sibi ascribit peccator:
et ingratus sensu derelinquet liberantem se. 23
Vir repromittit de proximo suo:
et cum perdiderit reverentiam, derelinquetur ab eo. 24
Repromissio nequissima multos perdidit dirigentes,
et commovit illos quasi fluctus maris. 25
Viros potentes gyrans migrare fecit,
et vagati sunt in gentibus alienis. 26
Peccator transgrediens mandatum Domini incidet in promissionem nequam:
et qui conatur multa agere incidet in judicium. 27
Recupera proximum secundum virtutem tuam,
et attende tibi ne incidas.

28 ἀρχὴ ζωῆς ὕδωρ καὶ ἄρτος καὶ ἱμάτιον καὶ οἶκος καλύπτων ἀσχημοσύνην 29 κρείσσων βίος πτωχοῦ ὑπὸ σκέπην δοκῶν ἢ ἐδέσματα λαμπρὰ ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις 30 ἐπὶ μικρῷ καὶ μεγάλῳ εὐδοκίαν ἔχε καὶ ὀνειδισμὸν παροικίας οὐ μὴ ἀκούσῃς 31 ζωὴ πονηρὰ ἐξ οἰκίας εἰς οἰκίαν καὶ οὗ παροικήσεις οὐκ ἀνοίξεις στόμα 32 ξενιεῖς καὶ ποτιεῖς εἰς ἀχάριστα καὶ πρὸς ἐπὶ τούτοις πικρὰ ἀκούσῃ 33 πάρελθε πάροικε κόσμησον τράπεζαν καὶ εἴ τι ἐν τῇ χειρί σου ψώμισόν με 34 ἔξελθε πάροικε ἀπὸ προσώπου δόξης ἐπεξένωταί μοι ὁ ἀδελφός χρεία τῆς οἰκίας 35 βαρέα ταῦτα ἀνθρώπῳ ἔχοντι φρόνησιν ἐπιτίμησις οἰκίας καὶ ὀνειδισμὸς δανειστοῦ

28 What are man’s first needs? Water, and bread, and clothing, and the privacy of a home. 29 Better the poor man’s fare under his roof of bare boards, than to be guest at a splendid banquet, and home have none. 30 Make much of the little thou hast; never be it thine to bear the reproach of a wanderer. 31 A wretched life it is, passing on from house to house to find a welcome; that welcome found, thou wilt lack all confidence, and sit there mumchance. 32 Then, when thou hast helped to entertain, with food and drink, the guests that owe thee no thanks, thou wilt have a poor reward for it: 33 Up, wanderer! Lay me a fresh table, and what lies before thee hand to others; 34 I have honoured guests coming, and thou must make way for them; a kinsman of mine stands in need of my hospitality! 35 Bitter words for an honest man to hear; shall he owe his bread to one that reviles him as homeless?

28

Initium vitæ hominis, aqua et panis,
et vestimentum, et domus protegens turpitudinem. 29
Melior est victus pauperis sub tegmine asserum
quam epulæ splendidæ in peregre sine domicilio. 30
Minimum pro magno placeat tibi,
et improperium peregrinationis non audies. 31
Vita nequam hospitandi de domo in domum:
et ubi hospitabitur non fiducialiter aget, nec aperiet os. 32
Hospitabitur, et pascet, et potabit ingratos,
et ad hæc amara audiet: 33
transi, hospes, et orna mensam,
et quæ in manu habes ciba ceteros. 34
Exi a facie honoris amicorum meorum:
necessitudine domus meæ hospitio mihi factus est frater. 35
Gravia hæc homini habenti sensum:
correptio domus, et improperium fœneratoris.

[1] vv. 19 sqq.: In Prov. 17.18, and elsewhere a warning is given against the folly of becoming surety for a friend, and verses 26, 27 of the present chapter seem to imply the same moral. These warnings perhaps refer to rash commercial speculations; where it is a question of charity, we may have the duty of making ourselves responsible on behalf of some poor man, at the risk of his defrauding us.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd