Wisdom of Ben Sira 22:27-23:15
New Catholic Bible
Prayer for a Good Life[a]
27 Who will set a guard over my mouth,
and a seal of prudence on my lips,
to prevent them from becoming my downfall
and to keep my tongue from causing my ruin?
Chapter 23
1 O Lord, Father and Master of my life,
do not abandon me to their control,
and do not permit me to fall because of them.
2 Who will administer whips to my thoughts
and the discipline of wisdom to my mind,
lest my failings may be spared
or any sins of mine be overlooked,
3 lest my failings be multiplied
and my sins abound,
lest I succumb to my adversaries
and my enemy gloat over me?
[For hope of receiving mercy from them is remote.][b]
4 O Lord, Father and God of my life,
do not allow haughtiness to mark my gaze,
5 and remove evil desire from my heart.
6 Let neither gluttony nor lust gain power over me,
and do not give me over to shameless passions.
Do Not Swear Oaths Lightly[c]
7 Listen, my children, to the instruction of my mouth;
anyone who does so will never be shamed.
8 The sinner is ensnared by his own lips;
both the abusive and the arrogant man are tripped up by them.
9 Do not let your mouth fall into the habit of swearing oaths,
or become accustomed to uttering the name of the Holy One.
10 For just as a servant who is constantly observed
is never without bruises,
so also the person who swears continuously by the Name
will never be cleansed from sin.
11 The one who swears many oaths is filled with iniquity,
and the scourge will never be far from his home.
If he swears in error, he still incurs guilt,
and if he disregards his oath, he sins twice.
If he swears a false oath, he will not be treated as innocent,
and his house will be filled with calamities.[d]
The Wise Watch Their Words[e]
12 There are words that are fraught with death;
may they never be heard among Jacob’s descendants.
For such conduct will be avoided by the devout;
they will not wallow in sin.
13 Do not use your mouth for coarse and foul language,
since that involves sinful speech.
14 Remember your father and mother
when you are sitting among the mighty,
or you may forget yourself in their presence
and by such habits make a fool of yourself.
Then you will wish you had never been born
and curse the day of your birth.
15 A man who gets into the habit of using shameful language
will never be reformed as long as he lives.
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 22:27 The wise know their weakness, the power of passions, and the difficulties that must daily be confronted. Thus, they implore God’s help so that truth and purity may be fixed more and more firmly in their hearts. The author inserts here a beautiful prayer witnessing to the fact that true education—of the heart—is a grace of God.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 23:3 Added by some early MSS.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 23:7 To call God to witness, without first reflecting on it, is to give him no respect.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 23:11 The author seems to set forth three cases of swearing oaths ranging from light to heavy sinfulness: (1) a sincere oath that is not fulfilled; (2) an oath that is undertaken lightly; and (3) an oath that is undertaken in bad faith.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 23:12 Using abusive, coarse, and foul speech is habit-forming. The wise watch their every word to avoid such a habit.
