BenSira:23
Seeker Overlay ON
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O Lord ,
Father and Governor of all my whole life ,
leave me not to their counsels ,
and let me not fall by them .
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Who will set scourges over my thoughts ,
and the discipline of wisdom over mine heart ?
that they spare me not for mine ignorances ,
and it pass not by my sins :
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Lest mine ignorances increase ,
and my sins abound to my destruction ,
and I fall before mine adversaries ,
and mine enemy rejoice over me ,
whose hope is far from thy mercy .
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O Lord ,
Father and God of my life ,
give me not a proud look ,
but turn away from thy servants always a haughty mind .
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Turn away from me vain hopes and concupiscence ,
and thou shalt hold him up that is desirous always to serve thee .
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Let not the greediness of the belly nor lust of the flesh take hold of me ;
and give not over me thy servant into an impudent mind .
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Hear ,
O ye children ,
the discipline of the mouth :
he that keepeth it shall never be taken in his lips .
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The sinner shall be left in his foolishness :
both the evil speaker and the proud shall fall thereby .
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Accustom not thy mouth to swearing ;
neither use thyself to the naming of the Holy One .
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For as a servant that is continually beaten shall not be without a blue mark :
so he that sweareth and nameth God continually shall not be faultless .
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A man that useth much swearing shall be filled with iniquity ,
and the plague shall never depart from his house :
if he shall offend ,
his sin shall be upon him :
and if he acknowledge not his sin ,
he maketh a double offence :
and if he swear in vain ,
he shall not be innocent ,
but his house shall be full of calamities .
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There is a word that is clothed about with death :
God grant that it be not found in the heritage of Jacob ;
for all such things shall be far from the godly ,
and they shall not wallow in their sins .
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Use not thy mouth to intemperate swearing ,
for therein is the word of sin .
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Remember thy father and thy mother ,
when thou sittest among great men .
Be not forgetful before them ,
and so thou by thy custom become a fool ,
and wish that thou hadst not been born ,
and curse they day of thy nativity .
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The man that is accustomed to opprobrious words will never be reformed all the days of his life .
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Two sorts of men multiply sin ,
and the third will bring wrath :
a hot mind is as a burning fire ,
it will never be quenched till it be consumed :
a fornicator in the body of his flesh will never cease till he hath kindled a fire .
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All bread is sweet to a whoremonger ,
he will not leave off till he die .
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A man that breaketh wedlock ,
saying thus in his heart ,
Who seeth me ?
I am compassed about with darkness ,
the walls cover me ,
and no body seeth me ;
what need I to fear ?
the most High will not remember my sins :
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Such a man only feareth the eyes of men ,
and knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun ,
beholding all the ways of men ,
and considering the most secret parts .
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He knew all things ere ever they were created ;
so also after they were perfected he looked upon them all .
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This man shall be punished in the streets of the city ,
and where he suspecteth not he shall be taken .
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Thus shall it go also with the wife that leaveth her husband ,
and bringeth in an heir by another .
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For first ,
she hath disobeyed the law of the most High ;
and secondly ,
she hath trespassed against her own husband ;
and thirdly ,
she hath played the whore in adultery ,
and brought children by another man .
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She shall be brought out into the congregation ,
and inquisition shall be made of her children .
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Her children shall not take root ,
and her branches shall bring forth no fruit .
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She shall leave her memory to be cursed ,
and her reproach shall not be blotted out .
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And they that remain shall know that there is nothing better than the fear of the Lord ,
and that there is nothing sweeter than to take heed unto the commandments of the Lord .
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It is great glory to follow the Lord ,
and to be received of him is long life .