Sirach - Chapter 5

Passage

Set not your heart upon unjust possessions, and say not: I have enough to live on: for it shall be of no service in the time of vengeance and darkness. Follow not in your strength the desires of your heart: And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge. Say not: I have sinned, and what harm has befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder. Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looks upon sinners. Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy you. Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not profit you in the day of calamity and revenge. Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so is every sinner proved by a double tongue. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of your judgment, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice keep with you. Be meek to hear the word, that you may understand: and return a true answer with wisdom. If you have understanding, answer your neighbor: but if not, let your hand be upon your mouth, lest you be surprised in an unskilful word, and be confounded. Honor and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin. Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in your tongue, and confounded. For confusion and repentance is upon a thief, and an evil mark of disgrace upon the double tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and enmity, and reproach. Justify alike the small and the great.