Sirach 5

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Do not put your confidence in your money or say, 'With this I am self-sufficient.'	1 Set not thy 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.
2 Do not be led by your appetites and energy to follow the passions of your heart.	2 Follow not in thy strength the desires of thy heart:
3 And do not say, 'Who has authority over me?' for the Lord will certainly give you your deserts.	3 And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge.
4 Do not say, 'I have sinned, but what harm has befal en me?' for the Lord's forbearance is long.	4 Say not: I have sinned, and whet harm hath befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder.
5 Do not be so sure of forgiveness that you add sin to sin.	5 Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin:
6 And do not say, 'His compassion is great, he will forgive me my many sins'; for with him are both mercyand retribution, and his anger does not pass from sinners.	6 And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins.
7 Do not delay your return to the Lord, do not put it off day after day; for suddenly the Lord's wrath wilblaze out, and on the day of punishment you wil be utterly destroyed.	7 For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners.
8 Do not set your heart on il -gotten gains, they wil be of no use to you on the day of disaster.	8 Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day.
9 Do not winnow in every wind, or walk along every by-way (as the double-talking sinner does).	9 For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee.
10 Be steady in your convictions, and be a person of your word.	10 Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not profit thee in the day of calamity and revenge.
11 Be quick to listen, and deliberate in giving an answer.	11 Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so is every sinner proved by a double tongue.
12 If you understand the matter, give your neighbour an answer, if not, keep your hand over your mouth.	12 Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of thy judgment, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice keep with thee.
13 Both honour and disgrace come from talking, the tongue is its owner's downfal .	13 Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayst understand: and return a true answer with wisdom.
14 Do not get a name for scandal-mongering, do not set traps with your tongue; for as shame lies in storefor the thief, so harsh condemnation awaits the deceitful.	14 If thou have understanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth, lest thou be surprised in an unskilful word, and be confounded.
15 Avoid offences in great as in smal matters, and do not exchange friendship for enmity,	15 Honour and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin.
	16 Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, and confounded.
	17 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.
	18 Justify alike the small and the great.