¹O Lord, Father, and Ruler of my life,

do not abandon me to their schemes

or allow me to fall because of them.

²Who will punish my thoughts to correct them

and discipline my mind with wisdom

so that I am not left unpunished for my errors

and my sins are not overlooked?

³Otherwise my mistakes may increase

and my sins may multiply,

and I may fall before my enemies,

allowing them to rejoice over me.

⁴O Lord, Father and God of my life,

do not let me become proud,

⁵and take away all my evil desires.

⁶Do not let gluttony or lust consume me,

and do not abandon me to shameless passions.

Controlling the Tongue

⁷My child, listen to instruction concerning the things you say.

The one who obeys it will never be tripped up.

⁸Sinners are ensnared by their own words;

scoffers and the proud fall by what they say.

⁹Don’t make a habit of swearing an oath after everything you say

or of using the name of the Holy One.

¹⁰Just as a slave who is constantly monitored

is always bruised,

so everyone who takes God’s name in vain

will not be free from sin.

¹¹Those who constantly swear oaths are sinful;

their households will continually be punished.

If they go back on their oaths, their sin will not be overlooked.

If they disregard their oaths, their guilt is doubled.

If they swear an oath that is not true, they will not be acquitted.

Their house will be filled with troubles.

¹²There is also a manner of speaking that equals death.

May it never be found among Jacob’s descendants!

The godly will steer clear of such conduct

and will not wallow in sin.

¹³Don’t get used to speaking lewd vulgarities,

for this is sinful speech.

¹⁴Remember who your father and mother are

when you sit among the great.

Otherwise you may forget who you are in their presence

and behave like a fool.

Then you will wish you had never been born,

and you will curse the day of your birth.

¹⁵Those who are accustomed to vulgarity

will never correct the habit as long as they live.

Regarding Sexual Sins

¹⁶There are two kinds of people who pile up sins

and a third who brings wrath upon themselves.

¹⁷Hot passion that burns fire

cannot be quenched until it burns itself out.

Those who have sexual relations with their own family members

will not give up until they are devoured by fire.

To the sexually immoral all that they devour is sweet;

they will not be weary of sinning until they die.

¹⁸The man who is unfaithful in marriage

says to himself, “Who can see me?

Darkness covers me, and the walls hide me.

No one sees me, so why should I fear?

The Most High will not remember my sins.”

¹⁹But his fears concern only human eyes.

He does not realize that the eyes of the Lord

are ten thousand times more intense than the sun.

They perceive every aspect of human behavior

and see into the most hidden places.

²⁰For all things were known to the Lord before they were created,

and he has known them since they were finished.

²¹This unfaithful man will be punished in the streets of the city,

and when he least suspects it, he will be captured.

²²The same thing will happen to every woman who leaves her husband

and presents him with an heir by another man.

²³First of all, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High.

Second, she has sinned against her husband.

Third, she has committed the sin of adultery

and has given birth to children by another man.

²⁴This woman will be brought before the congregation,

and her punishment will be inherited by her children.

²⁵Her children will not become firmly rooted,

and her branches will not bear fruit.

²⁶People will curse the very memory of her,

and her disgrace will never be removed.

²⁷Those who live on after her will realize

that there is nothing better than to fear the Lord

and nothing sweeter than to obey his commandments.