Ecclesiasticus 9

¹Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom,[#Deut. 13.6 & 28.54,56.]

And teach her not an evil lesson against thyself.

²Give not thy soul unto a woman,[#Cp. Prov. 31.3.]

That she should set her foot upon thy strength.

³Go not to meet a woman that playeth the harlot,[#Cp. Prov. 7.10,23.]

Lest haply thou fall into her snares.

⁴Use not the company of a woman that is a singer,

Lest haply thou be caught by her attempts.

⁵Gaze not on a maid, lest haply thou be trapped in her penalties.[#See Job 31.1.; #Cp. Deut. 22.29.]

⁶Give not thy soul unto harlots,

That thou lose not thine inheritance.

⁷Look not round about thee in the streets of the city,[#Cp. Prov. 7.8,12.]

Neither wander thou in the solitary places thereof.

⁸Turn away thine eye from a comely woman,[#Cp. ch. 25.21.]

And gaze not on another's beauty:

By the beauty of a woman many have been led astray;

And herewith love is kindled as a fire.

⁹Sit not at all with a woman that hath a husband;[#Cp. ch. 41.21.; #9.9 A line of this verse is here omitted by the best authorities.]

And revel not with her at the wine;

Lest haply thy soul turn aside unto her,

And with thy spirit thou slide into destruction.

¹⁰Forsake not an old friend;[#Cp. Prov. 27.10.]

For the new is not comparable to him:

As new wine, so is a new friend;

If it became old, thou shalt drink it with gladness.

¹¹ENVY not the glory of a sinner;[#See Ps. 37.1.]

For thou knowest not what shall be his overthrow.

¹²Delight not in the delights of the ungodly:

Remember they shall not go unpunished unto the grave.

¹³KEEP thee far from the man that hath power to kill,[#9.13 Or authority]

And thou shalt have no suspicion of the fear of death:

And if thou come unto him, commit no fault,

Lest he take away thy life:

Know surely that thou goest about in the midst of snares,

And walkest upon the battlements of a city.

¹⁴AS well as thou canst, guess at thy neighbours;

And take counsel with the wise.

¹⁵Let thy converse be with men of understanding;[#Cp. ch. 27.12.]

And let all thy discourse be in the law of the Most High.

¹⁶Let just men be the companions of thy board;

And let thy glorying be in the fear of the Lord.

¹⁷For the hand of the artificers a work shall be commended:

And he that ruleth the people shall be counted wise for his speech.

¹⁸A man full of tongue is dangerous in his city;[#ch. 8.3.]

And he that is headlong in his speech shall be hated.