Ecclesiasticus 28

¹He that taketh vengeance shall find vengeance from the Lord;[#See Deut. 32.35.]

And he will surely make firm his sins.

²Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done thee ;[#Mat. 6.14. Mark 11.25.]

And then thy sins shall be pardoned when thou prayest.

³Man cherisheth anger against man;[#See Mat. 18.23-35.]

And doth he seek healing from the Lord?

⁴Upon a man like himself he hath no mercy;

And doth he make supplication for his own sins?

⁵He being himself flesh nourisheth wrath:

Who shall make atonement for his sins?

⁶Remember thy last end, and cease from enmity:[#See ch. 7.36.]

Remember corruption and death, and abide in the commandments.

⁷Remember the commandments, and be not wroth with thy neighbour;[#See Lev. 19.18.]

And remember the covenant of the Highest, and wink at ignorance.

⁸Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins:

For a passionate man will kindle strife;

⁹And a man that is a sinner will trouble friends,[#Prov. 6.12,14,19.]

And will make debate among them that be at peace.

¹⁰As is the fuel of the fire, so will it burn;[#28.10 The order of the lines in this verse is uncertain.; #See ch. 8.3.]

And as the stoutness of the strife is, so will it burn:

As is the strength of the man, so will be his wrath;

And as is his wealth, so will he exalt his anger.

¹¹A contention begun in haste kindleth a fire;

And a hasty fighting sheddeth blood.

¹²If thou blow a spark, it shall burn;

And if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched:

And both these shall come out of thy mouth.

¹³CURSE the whisperer and doubletongued:[#See ch. 5.14.]

For he hath destroyed many that were at peace.

¹⁴A third person's tongue hath shaken many,

And dispersed them from nation to nation;

And it hath pulled down strong cities,

And overthrown the houses of great men.

¹⁵A third person's tongue hath cast out brave women,[#ch. 26.2.]

And deprived them of their labours.

¹⁶He that hearkeneth unto it shall not find rest,

Nor shall he dwell quietly.

¹⁷The stroke of a whip maketh a mark in the flesh;[#Cp. ch. 23.10.]

But the stroke of a tongue will break bones.

¹⁸Many have fallen by the edge of the sword:

Yet not so many as they that have fallen because of the tongue.

¹⁹Happy is he that is sheltered from it,

That hath not passed through the wrath thereof;

That hath not drawn its yoke,

And hath not been bound with its bands.

²⁰For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron,[#Cp. Mat. 11.30.]

And the bands thereof are bands of brass.

²¹The death thereof is an evil death;

And Hades were better than it.

²²It shall not have rule over godly men;

And they shall not be burned in its flame.

²³They that forsake the Lord shall fall into it;

And it shall burn among them, and shall not be quenched:

It shall be sent forth upon them as a lion;

And as a leopard it shall destroy them.

²⁴Look that thou hedge thy possession about with thorns;[#Cp. ch. 36.25.]

Bind up thy silver and thy gold;

²⁵And make a balance and a weight for thy words;[#ch. 21.25.]

And make a door and a bar for thy mouth.

²⁶Take heed lest thou slip therein;

Lest thou fall before one that lieth in wait.