Chapter 5

¹Set 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. ²Follow not in thy strength the desires of thy heart: ³And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge. ⁴Say not: I have sinned, and whet harm hath befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder. ⁵Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: ⁶And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. ⁷For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners. ⁸Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. ⁹For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee. ¹⁰Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not profit thee in the day of calamity and revenge. ¹¹Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so is every sinner proved by a double tongue. ¹²Be 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. ¹³Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayst understand: and return a true answer with wisdom. ¹⁴If 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. ¹⁵Honour and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin. ¹⁶Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, and confounded. ¹⁷For 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. ¹⁸Justify alike the small and the great.