Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| Do no evil, and evil will never overtake you.
2| Stay away from wrongdoing, and it will turn away from you.
3| Son, do not sow in the furrows of injustice, or you will reap it sevenfold.
4| Do not seek leadership from the Lord, nor a seat of honor from a king.
5| Do not justify yourself before the Lord, and do not play the wise man before a king.
6| Do not seek to become a judge, unless you have the strength to root out injustice — lest you cower before a powerful man and put a stumbling block in the way of your own integrity.
7| Do not sin against the multitude of the city, and do not throw yourself down before the crowd.
8| Do not tie a sin twice around yourself, for even for one you will not go unpunished.
9| Do not say, "He will look upon the abundance of my gifts, and when I offer to God Most High he will accept me."
10| Do not lose heart in your prayer, and do not neglect to give alms.
11| Do not mock a man while his soul is bitter within him, for someone exists who brings low and who lifts up.
12| Do not plow a lie against your brother, nor do the same against a friend.
13| Do not be willing to tell any lie at all, for persisting in it never leads to good.
14| Do not babble on among a crowd of elders, and do not repeat yourself in your prayer.
15| Do not despise hard labor and farming, for they were created by the Most High.
16| Do not count yourself among the multitude of sinners; remember that wrath will not delay.
17| Humble your soul deeply, for the vengeance awaiting the ungodly is fire and worm.
18| Do not exchange a friend for money, nor a true brother for the gold of Ophir.
19| Do not throw away a wise and good wife, for her grace is worth more than gold.
20| Do not mistreat a household servant who works faithfully, nor a hired laborer who gives his whole life to it.
21| Let your soul love a good servant; do not withhold freedom from him.
22| Do you have livestock? Look after them, and if they are useful to you, let them remain.
23| Do you have children? Discipline them, and bend their necks from their youth.
24| Do you have daughters? Watch over their bodies, and do not show them too cheerful a face.
25| Give your daughter in marriage, and you will have finished a great task; give her to a man of understanding.
26| Do you have a wife after your own heart? Do not cast her out.
27| Honor your father with your whole heart, and do not forget the birth pains of your mother.
28| Remember that it was through them you came to be, and what can you repay them that equals what they gave you?
29| With your whole soul stand in awe of the Lord, and hold his priests in reverence.
30| With all your strength love the one who made you, and do not abandon his ministers.
31| Stand in fear of the Lord, and hold his priest in honor, giving him what belongs to him just as you were ordered long ago: the guilt offering, the portion of shoulders, the sanctifying sacrifice, and the earliest yield of the harvest.
32| And stretch out your hand to the poor, so that your blessing may be made complete.
33| Let your gift bring grace before every living person, and do not withhold this grace even from the dead.
34| Do not fail those who weep, and mourn together with those who mourn.
35| Do not be slow to visit the sick, for by such acts you will be loved.
36| In all your words remember your last end, and you will never sin.