1 Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, And teach her not an evil lesson against thyself. 2 Give not thy soul unto a woman To set her foot upon thy substance. 3 Meet not with a harlot, Lest thou fall into her snares. 4 Use not much the company of a woman that is a singer, Lest thou be taken with her attempts. 5 Gaze not on a maid, That thou fall not by those things that are precious in her. 6 Give not thy soul unto harlots, That thou lose not thine inheritance. 7 Look not round about thee in the streets of the city, Neither wander thou in the solitary places thereof. 8 Turn away thine eye from a beautiful woman, And look not upon another’s beauty; For many have been deceived by the beauty of a woman; For herewith love is kindled as a fire. 9 Sit not at all with another man’s wife, Nor sit down with her in thine arms, And spend not thy money with her at the wine; Lest thy heart incline unto her, And so through thy desire thou fall into destruction. 10 Forsake not an old friend; For the new is not comparable to him: A new friend is as new wine; When it is old, thou shalt drink it with pleasure. 11 Envy not the glory of a sinner: For thou knowest not what shall be his end. 12 Delight not in the thing that the ungodly have pleasure in; But remember they shall not go unpunished unto their grave. 13 Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill: So shalt thou not doubt the fear of death: And if thou come unto him, make no fault, Lest he take away thy life presently: Remember that thou goest in the midst of snares, And that thou walkest upon the battlements of the city. 14 As near as thou canst, guess at thy neighbor, And consult with the wise. 15 Let thy talk be with the wise, And all thy communication in the law of the most High. 16 And let just men eat and drink with thee; And let thy glorying be in the fear of the Lord. 17 For the hand of the artificer the work shall be commended; And the wise ruler of the people for his speech. 18 A man of an ill tongue is dangerous in his city; And he that is rash in his talk shall be hated.
Sirach · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Sirach 9 Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Whence too it is said in the Psalm, "They have laid stumblingblocks for me by the way side." And another Scripture saith, "Remember that thou walkest in the midst of snares." These snares among which we walk are not in the way; but yet they are "by the way side." What fearest thou, what art thou alarmed at, so thou …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
This even the ancient Scripture corrects from the first, saying, "Contemplate not beauty which is another's." And then, lest any one should say, "what then, if I contemplate, and be not taken captive," He punishes the look, lest confiding in this security thou shouldest some time fall into sin.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… a better thing than a gift," and "answer the poor man peaceably with meekness." And all the rest of thy time too adorn it with the rehearsing of the laws of God; "Yea, let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High." Having thus adorned ourselves, let us come to our King, and fall at His knees, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)