code: public static Map<String, String> read(final String path) {
  
          Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<String, String>();
  
          if (path != null) {
              try {
                  Properties p = loadProperties(path);
  
                  for (Object key : p.keySet()) {
  
                      String value = p.getProperty(String.valueOf(key));
  
                      // remove single/double quotes
                      if ((value.startsWith("\"") && value.endsWith("\"")) ||
                              (value.startsWith("\'") && value.endsWith("\'"))) {
                          value = value.substring(1, value.length() - 1);
                      }
  
                      value = value.trim();
  
                      if (!value.equals("")) {
                          map.put(String.valueOf(key), value);
                      }
                  }
  
              } catch (Exception e) {
                  log.error(e.getMessage(), e);
              }
          }
  
          return map;
      }
docs: Reads properties from file path or classpath