Ecclesiasticus
Ecclesiasticus 7
Chapter VII · Vol. III, pp. 1559–1560
1 We are dehorted from sin, from ambition, presumption, and faintness in prayer, from lying and backbiting. 18 How to esteem a friend; 19 a good wife; 20 a servant; 22 our cattle; 23 our children and parents; 31 the Lord and his priests; 32 the poor and those that mourn.
1 Do no evil, 1so shall no harm come unto thee.
1 1 Pet. 3. 13.
2 Depart from the unjust, and iniquity shall turn away from thee.
3 My son, 2sow not upon the furrows of unrighteousness, and thou shalt not reap them seven-fold.
2 Job 4. 8. Prov. 22. 8.
4 Seek not of the Lord pre-eminence, neither of the king the seat of honour.
6 Seek not to be judge, being not able to take away iniquity; lest at any time thou fear the person of the mighty, and lay a stumbling-block in the way of thine uprightness.
7 4Offend not against the multitude of a city, and then thou shalt not cast thyself down among the people.
4 Matt. 18. 7.
8 Bind not one sin upon another; for in one thou shalt not be unpunished.
9 Say not, God will look upon the multitude of mine oblations, and when I offer to the most high God, he will accept it.
5 Isa. 1. 11.
10 Be 6not faint-hearted when thou makest thy prayer, and neglect not to give alms.
Before Christ about 200.
6 Luke 18. 1.
11 Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul: for there is one which humbleth and exalteth.
12 Devise not a lie against thy brother: neither do the like to thy friend.
13 Use not to make any manner of lie: for the custom thereof is not good.
14 Use not many words in a multitude of elders, 8and make not 9much babbling when thou prayest.
9 Or, vain repetition.
15 Hate not laborious work, neither 7husbandry, which the Most High hath *ordained.
7 Gr. Plough not.
* Gr. created.
16 Number not thyself among the multitude of sinners, but remember that wrath will not tarry long.
17 Humble thy soul greatly: †for the vengeance of the ungodly is fire and worms.
† Isa. 66. 24.
18 Change not a friend for any good, by no means; neither a faithful brother for ‡the gold of Ophir.
‡ Ps. 45. 9.
19 Forego not a wise and good woman: for her grace is above gold.
20 ¶ Whereas thy servant worketh truly, entreat him not evil, nor the hireling that bestoweth himself wholly for thee.
¶ Lev. 19. 13.
21 Let thy soul love a good servant, and defraud him not of liberty.
22 1Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy profit, keep them with thee.
1 Deut. 25. 4.
24 Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not thyself cheerful toward them.
25 Marry thy daughter, and so shalt thou have performed a weighty matter: but give her to a man of understanding.
26 Hast thou a wife after thy mind? 3forsake her not: but give not thyself over to a 4light woman.
3 Gen. 2. 24.
4 Or, hateful.
27 5Honour thy father with thy whole heart, and forget not the sorrows of thy mother.
5 Ex. 20. 12.
28 Remember that thou wast begotten of them, and how canst thou recompense them the things that they have done for thee?
29 Fear the Lord with all thy soul, and reverence his priests.
30 6Love him that hath made thee with all thy strength, and forsake not his ministers.
6 Matt. 22. 37.
31 Fear the Lord, and honour the priest; and give him his portion, as it is commanded thee; the first-fruits, and the trespass-offering, and the gift of the shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first-fruits of the holy things.
32 7And stretch thy hand unto the poor, that 8thy blessing may be perfected.
7 Deut. 15. 10.
8 Or, thy liberality.
33 A gift hath grace in the sight of every man living, and for the dead detain it not.
34 Fail not to be with them that weep, and mourn with them that mourn.
36 Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss.