The Book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus)
Chapter 7
1 – Do no evils, and no evils shall lay hold of thee.
2 – Depart from the unjust, and evils shall depart from thee.
3 – My son, sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold.
4 – Seek not of the Lord a pre-eminence, nor of the king the seat of honour.
5 – Justify not thyself before God, for he knoweth the heart: and desire not to appear wise before the king.
6 – Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough to extirpate iniquities: lest thou fear the person of the powerful, and lay a stumblingblock for thy integrity.
7 – Offend not against the multitude of a city, neither cast thyself in upon the people,
8 – Nor bind sin to sin: for even in one thou shalt not be unpunished.
9 – Be not fainthearted in thy mind:
10 – Neglect not to pray, and to give alms.
11 – Say not: God will have respect to the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to the most high God, he will accept my offerings.
12 – Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul: for there is one that humbleth and exalteth, God who seeth
13 – Devise not a lie against thy brother: neither do the like against thy friend.
14 – Be not willing to make any manner of lie: for the custom thereof is not good.
15 – Be not full of words in a multitude of ancients, and repeat not the word in thy prayer.
16 – Hate not laborious works, nor husbandry ordained by the most High.
17 – Number not thyself among the multitude of the disorderly.
18 – Remember wrath, for it will not tarry long.
19 – Humble thy spirit very much: for the vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms.
20 – Do not transgress against thy friend deferring money, nor despise thy dear brother for the sake of gold.
21 – Depart not from a wise and good wife, whom thou best gotten in the fear of the Lord: for the grace of her modesty is above gold.
22 – Hurt not the servant that worketh faithfully, nor the hired man that giveth thee his life.
23 – Let a wise servant be dear to thee as thy own soul, defraud him not of liberty, nor leave him needy.
24 – Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy profit, keep them with thee.
25 – Hast thou children? instruct them, and bow down their neck from their childhood.
26 – Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not thy countenance gay towards them.
27 – Marry thy daughter well, and then shalt do a great work, and give her to a wise man.
28 – If thou hast a wife according to thy soul, cast her not off: and to her that is hateful, trust not thyself. With thy whole heart,
29 – Honour thy father, and forget not the groanings of thy mother:
30 – Remember that thou hadst not been born but through them: and make a return to them as they have done for thee.
31 – With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests.
32 – With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his ministers.
33 – Honour God with all thy soul, and give honour to the priests, and purify thyself with thy arms.
34 – Give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the firstfruits and of purifications: and for thy negligences purify thyself with a few.
35 – Offer to the Lord the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the firstfruits of the holy things:
37 – A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead.
38 – And stretch out thy hand to the poor, that thy expiation and thy blessing may be perfected.
38 – Be not wanting in comforting them that weep, and walk with them that mourn.
39 – Be not slow to visit the sick: for by these things thou shalt be confirmed in love.
40 – In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.
The Catholic Bible Online. Scriptures are from The Douay Rheims Catholic Bible 1582-1610 a.d. Version In the Public Domain. The Douay Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English undertaken by members of the English College, Douai in the service of the Catholic Church.