¹⁵ The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,^(A)
    but poverty is the ruin of the poor.^(B)

²⁰ The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
    but the rich have many friends.^(A)

²³ The poor plead for mercy,
    but the rich answer harshly.

19 Better the poor whose walk is blameless
    than a fool whose lips are perverse.^(A)

⁴ Wealth attracts many friends,
    but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.^(A)

⁷ The poor are shunned by all their relatives—
    how much more do their friends avoid them!^(A)
Though the poor pursue them with pleading,
    they are nowhere to be found.^[a](B)

¹⁷ Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,^(A)
    and he will reward them for what they have done.^(B)

²² What a person desires is unfailing love^[a];
    better to be poor than a liar.

¹³ Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
    will also cry out^(A) and not be answered.^(B)