Ecclesiasticus 5

¹Attend not to unjust possessions, and say not: I have sufficient livelihood: for it shall nothing profit in the time of vengeance & affliction.

²Follow not in thy strength the concupiscence of thy heart:

³and say not: How mighty am I? And who shall bring me under for my facts? For God revenging will revenge.

⁴Say not: I have sinned, and what sorrowful thing hath chanced to me? For the Highest is a patient rewarder.

⁵Of sin forgiven be not without fear, neither add thou sin upon sin.

⁶And say not: The mercy of our Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins.

⁷For mercy and wrath quickly approach from God, and his wrath looketh upon sinners.

⁸Slack not to be converted to our Lord, and defer not from day to day.

⁹For his wrath shall come suddenly: and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee.

¹⁰Be not careful in unjust riches: for they shall not profit thee in the day of obduction and vengeance.

¹¹Toss not thyself into every wind, and go not into every way: for so every sinner is proved by a double tongue.

¹²Be steadfast in the way of our Lord, & in the truth of thy understanding, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice accompany thee.

¹³Be mild to hear the word, thou mayst understand, and with wisdom utter thou a true answer.

¹⁴If thou have understanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not, let thine hand be upon thy mouth, lest thou be taken in an unskillful word, and be confounded.

¹⁵Honour and glory in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the unwise is his subversion.

¹⁶Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, & confounded.

¹⁷For upon a thief is confusion & repentance, and a very evil condemnation upon the double tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and enmity, and contumely.

¹⁸Justify thou the little one, and the great alike.