Sirach 9

1Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she show in thy regard the malice of a wicked lesson.

2Give not the power of thy soul to a woman, lest she enter upon thy strength, and thou be confounded.

3Look not upon a woman that hath a mind for many: lest thou fall into her snares.

4Use not much the company of her that is a dancer, and hearken not to her, lest thou perish by the force of her charms.

5Gaze not upon a maiden, lest her beauty be a stumbling block to thee.

6Give not thy soul to harlots in any point: lest thou destroy thyself and thy inheritance.

7Look not round about thee in the ways of the city, nor wander up and down in the streets thereof.

8Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not about upon another’s beauty.

9For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby lust is enkindled as a fire.

10Every woman that is a harlot, shall be trodden upon as dung in the way.

11Many by admiring the beauty of another man’s wife, have become reprobate, for her conversation burneth as fire.

12Sit not at all with another man’s wife, nor repose upon the bed with her:

13And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline towards her and by thy blood thou fall into destruction.

14Forsake not an old friend, for the new will not be like to him.

15A new friend is as new wine: it shall grow old, and thou shalt drink it with pleasure.

16Envy not the glory and riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not what his ruin shall be.

17Be not pleased with the wrong done by the unjust, knowing that even to hell the wicked shall not please.

18Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill, so thou shalt not suspect the fear of death.

19And if thou come to him, commit no fault, lest he take away thy life.

20Know it to be a communication with death: for thou art going in the midst of snares, and walking upon the arms of them that are grieved.

21According to thy power beware of thy neighbour, and treat with the wise and prudent.

22Let just men be thy guests, and let thy glory be in the fear of God.

23And let the thought of God be in thy mind, and all thy discourse on the commandments of the Highest.

24Works shall be praised for the hand of the artificers, and the prince of the people for the wisdom of his speech, but the word of the ancients for the sense.

25A man full of tongue is terrible in his city, and he that is rash in his word shall be hateful.

1Non zeles mulierem sinus tui, ne ostendat super te malitiam doctrinæ nequam.

2Non des mulieri potestatem animæ tuæ, ne ingrediatur in virtutem tuam, et confundaris.

3Ne respicias mulierem multivolam, ne forte incidas in laqueos illius.

4Cum saltatrice ne assiduus sis, nec audias illam, ne forte pereas in efficacia illius.

5Virginem ne conspicias, ne forte scandalizeris in decore illius.

6Ne des fornicariis animam tuam in ullo, ne perdas te et hæreditatem tuam.

7Noli circumspicere in vicis civitatis, nec oberraveris in plateis illius.

8Averte faciem tuam a muliere compta, et ne circumspicias speciem alienam.

9Propter speciem mulieris multi perierunt : et ex hoc concupiscentia quasi ignis exardescit.

10Omnis mulier quæ est fornicaria, quasi stercus in via conculcabitur.

11Speciem mulieris alienæ multi admirati, reprobi facti sunt : colloquium enim illius quasi ignis exardescit.

12Cum aliena muliere ne sedeas omnino, nec accumbas cum ea super cubitum :

13et non alterceris cum illa in vino, ne forte declinet cor tuum in illam, et sanguine tuo labaris in perditionem.

14Ne derelinquas amicum antiquum : novus enim non erit similis illi.

15Vinum novum amicus novus : veterascet, et cum suavitate bibes illud.

16Non zeles gloriam et opes peccatoris : non enim scis quæ futura sit illius subversio.

17Non placeat tibi injuria injustorum, sciens quoniam usque ad inferos non placebit impius.

18Longe abesto ab homine potestatem habente occidendi, et non suspicaberis timorem mortis.

19Et si accesseris ad illum, noli aliquid committere, ne forte auferat vitam tuam.

20Communionem mortis scito, quoniam in medio laqueorum ingredieris, et super dolentium arma ambulabis.

21Secundum virtutem tuam cave te a proximo tuo, et cum sapientibus et prudentibus tracta.

22Viri justi sint tibi convivæ, et in timore Dei sit tibi gloriatio :

23et in sensu sit tibi cogitatus Dei, et omnis enarratio tua in præceptis Altissimi.

24In manu artificum opera laudabuntur, et princeps populi in sapientia sermonis sui, in sensu vero seniorum verbum.

25Terribilis est in civitate sua homo linguosus : et temerarius in verbo suo odibilis erit.

1μὴ ζήλου γυναῖκα τοῦ κόλπου σου μηδὲ διδάξῃς ἐπὶ σεαυτὸν παιδείαν πονηράν

2μὴ δῷς γυναικὶ τὴν ψυχήν σου ἐπιβῆναι αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τὴν ἰσχύν σου

3μὴ ὑπάντα γυναικὶ ἑταιριζομένῃ μήποτε ἐμπέσῃς εἰς τὰς παγίδας αὐτῆς

4μετὰ ψαλλούσης μὴ ἐνδελέχιζε μήποτε ἁλῷς ἐν τοῖς ἐπιχειρήμασιν αὐτῆς

5παρθένον μὴ καταμάνθανε μήποτε σκανδαλισθῇς ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις αὐτῆς

6μὴ δῷς πόρναις τὴν ψυχήν σου ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσῃς τὴν κληρονομίαν σου

7μὴ περιβλέπου ἐν ῥύμαις πόλεως καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις αὐτῆς μὴ πλανῶ

8ἀπόστρεψον ὀφθαλμὸν ἀπὸ γυναικὸς εὐμόρφου καὶ μὴ καταμάνθανε κάλλος ἀλλότριον

9ἐν κάλλει γυναικὸς πολλοὶ ἐπλανήθησαν καὶ ἐκ τούτου φιλία ὡς πῦρ ἀνακαίεται

12μετὰ ὑπάνδρου γυναικὸς μὴ κάθου τὸ σύνολον

13καὶ μὴ συμβολοκοπήσῃς μετ' αὐτῆς ἐν οἴνῳ μήποτε ἐκκλίνῃ ἡ ψυχή σου ἐπ' αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ πνεύματί σου ὀλίσθῃς εἰς ἀπώλειαν

14μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς φίλον ἀρχαῖον ὁ γὰρ πρόσφατος οὐκ ἔστιν ἔφισος αὐτῷ

15οἶνος νέος φίλος νέος ἐὰν παλαιωθῇ μετ' εὐφροσύνης πίεσαι αὐτόν

16μὴ ζηλώσῃς δόξαν ἁμαρτωλοῦ οὐ γὰρ οἶδας τί ἔσται ἡ καταστροφὴ αὐτοῦ

17μὴ εὐδοκήσῃς ἐν εὐδοκίᾳ ἀσεβῶν μνήσθητι ὅτι ἕως ᾅδου οὐ μὴ δικαιωθῶσιν

18μακρὰν ἄπεχε ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ὃς ἔχει ἐξουσίαν τοῦ φονεύειν καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑποπτεύσῃς φόβον θανάτου

19κἂν προσέλθῃς μὴ πλημμελήσῃς ἵνα μὴ ἀφέληται τὴν ζωήν σου

20ἐπίγνωθι ὅτι ἐν μέσῳ παγίδων διαβαίνεις καὶ ἐπὶ ἐπάλξεων πόλεως περιπατεῖς

21κατὰ τὴν ἰσχύν σου στόχασαι τοὺς πλησίον καὶ μετὰ σοφῶν συμβουλεύου

22μετὰ συνετῶν ἔστω ὁ διαλογισμός σου καὶ πᾶσα διήγησίς σου ἐν νόμῳ ὑψίστου

23ἄνδρες δίκαιοι ἔστωσαν σύνδειπνοί σου καὶ ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου ἔστω τὸ καύχημά σου

24ἐν χειρὶ τεχνιτῶν ἔργον ἐπαινεσθήσεται καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενος λαοῦ σοφὸς ἐν λόγῳ αὐτοῦ

25φοβερὸς ἐν πόλει αὐτοῦ ἀνὴρ γλωσσώδης καὶ ὁ προπετὴς ἐν λόγῳ αὐτοῦ μισηθήσεται