CHAPTER 29
1 He that doeth mercy, lendeth to his neighbour; and he that is full mighty in hand, keepeth the com-mandments.
2 Lend thou to thy neighbour in the time of his need; and again yield thou to a neighbour in his time.
3 Confirm thou a word, and do thou faithfully with him; and in all time thou shalt find that, that is needful to thee.
4 Many men guessed borrowing as finding, and gave dis-ease [or grief] to those men that helped them.
5 Till they take, they kiss the hands of the giver; and in promises they make meek their voice. And in the time of yielding, he shall ask for more time [or delaying], and he shall speak words of annoyance, and of grutch-ings, and he shall challenge falsely, [or plead for, or complain about] the time, to tarry the paying of debt.
6 Forsooth if he may yield, he shall be adversary [or enemy]; of a shilling scarcely he shall yield the half [or scarcely of the whole he shall yield the half], and he shall reckon that as refunding. Else he shall defraud him in his money, and the lender shall have him an enemy without cause. And he shall yield to him, that is, to the lender, wrongs and cursings; and for honour and benefice [or benefit], he shall yield to him despising.
7 Many men lend not, not for cause of wickedness, but they dreaded to be defrauded without cause, [or will-fully].
8 Nevertheless on a meek man in soul, that is, a full poor debtor, be thou stronger; and for alms-[deeds] draw thou not him along.
9 For the commandment of God take thou a poor man [or For the behest take to the poor]; and for his neediness leave thou not him void.
10 Lose thou money for a brother and friend, and hide thou not it under a stone, into perdition.
11 Put thy treasure in the command-ments of the Highest; and it shall profit to thee more than gold.
12 Enclose thou alms in the bosom of a poor man; and this alms shall pray for thee to be delivered of God from all evil. The alms of a man is as a bag [or a little sack] with him; and it shall keep the grace of [a] man, that is, God’s grace, given to man, as the apple of the eye. And afterward it shall rise again, and shall yield to them a yielding, to each man into the head of them.
13 Above [or Over] the shield of a mighty man, and above [or over] a spear it shall fight against thine enemy.
14 A good man maketh faith to his neighbour in becoming borrower for him in need; and he that loseth, shall leave shame to him.
15 Forget thou not the grace of the borrower; for he gave his life for thee.
16 A sinful man [or The sinner] and unclean fleeth the promiser. A sinner areckoneth to himself the good words of the borrower;
17 and the unkind man in wit forsaketh a man delivering him.
18 A man promiseth for his neigh-bour; and when he hath lost rever-ence, that is, shamefastness before God and man, the borrower shall be forsaken of him. Worst [or Most shrewd] promise, by which the neighbour promised falsely to deliver his borrow, hath lost [or spoiled] many loving men, and hath moved them as the waves of the sea. It going in compass made mighty men to pass over [or to go out]; and they wan-dered about among alien folks.
19 A sinner breaking [or over-passing] the commandment of the Lord shall fall into a wicked promise; and he that endeavoureth to do many things, shall fall into doom.
20 Recover thy neighbour by thy virtue; and take heed to thyself, lest thou fall.
21 The beginning of life of a man is water, and bread, and clothing, and house covering filth[hood].
22 Better is the lifelode of a poor man under the covering of spars, than [plenteous] shining feasts in pilgrim-age without house,
23 The least thing pleaseth thee for a great thing, and thou shalt not hear the shame [or reproof] of pilgrimage.
24 It is wicked life to seek harbour from house into house; and where he shall be harboured, he shall not do trustily, neither he shall open the mouth.
25 He shall be harboured, and he shall feed, and give drink to unkind men; and yet he shall hear bitter things.
26 Pass, thou that art harboured, and array a table [or Go, guest, and adorn the board]; and give thou meats to other men, those things that thou hast in the hand.
27 Go thou out from the face of the honour of my friends, for the friend-ship, either affinity, [or need] of mine house; by harbouring thou art made a brother to me.
28 These things be grievous to a man having wit; the reproving of house, and the despising of the usurer [or reproof of the lender].