Do Good to Those Who Deserve It

1 Do good to those

who deserve it,

and they will thank you.

2Be kind to the godly,

and they--or God Most High--

will reward you.

3But you will have no success

if you keep doing evil

and refuse to give

to the poor.

* 4Help those who are humble

and faithful to God,

5but don't help the ungodly.

If you give food to sinners,

they will become strong

and overpower you.

Do a good deed for them,

and they will reward you

by wronging you twice.

6But God Most High

hates ungodly sinners

and will punish them.

7Yes, give to good people,

not to sinners.

True Friends

8In hard times you will discover

your true friends

and your real enemies.

9Even your enemies act friendly

when you are well off,

but only true friends stay

when trouble strikes.

10Never trust your enemies--

their evil will attack you

like rust 11eating away

at an unpolished mirror.

So be on guard against them,

even if they bow down

and act humble.

12Don't make them your partners,

or they will push you aside

and take over.

Then you will know I was right,

and you will feel the sting

of my words.

13If you try to charm snakes

or to tame wild animals,

who will take pity

when you get bitten?

14In the same way,

no one will take pity

if you are friendly with sinners

and start sinning yourself.

15Enemies act loyal for a while,

but they won't stand by you

when you need help.

16They tell you how much

they want to be your friends,

all the while plotting

to put you in your grave.

They weep when you are sad,

but they will try to kill you

the first chance they get.

17If you are struck by disaster,

they pretend to help

but pull you down instead.

18Then they laugh and sneer,

making vulgar hand signs,

showing what kind of friends

they really are.