Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 23

23:1

O Lord, Father and Master of my life,

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23:2

Who will set scourges over my thought,

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23:3

Otherwise my errors might be multiplied,

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23:4

O Lord, Father and God of my life,

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23:5

and turn away evil desire from me.

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23:6

Let neither gluttony nor lust overtake me.

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23:7

Listen, my children, to the discipline of the mouth.

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23:8

The sinner will be overpowered through his lips.

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23:9

Don’t accustom your mouth to an oath,

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23:10

for as a servant who is continually scourged will not lack bruises,

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23:11

A man of many oaths will be filled with iniquity.

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23:12

There is a manner of speech that is clothed with death.

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23:13

Don’t accustom your mouth to gross rudeness,

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23:14

Remember your father and your mother,

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23:15

A man who is accustomed to abusive language

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23:16

Two sorts of people multiply sins,

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23:17

All bread is sweet to a fornicator.

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23:18

A man who goes astray from his own marriage bed

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23:19

The eyes of men are his terror.

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23:20

All things were known to him before they were created,

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23:21

This man will be punished in the streets of the city.

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23:22

So also is a wife who leaves her husband,

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23:23

For first, she was disobedient in the law of the Most High.

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23:24

She shall be brought out into the congregation.

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23:25

Her children will not take root.

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23:26

She will leave her memory for a curse.

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23:27

And those who are left behind will know that there is nothing better than the fear of the Lord,

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