Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| Whoever seeks vengeance will find vengeance from the Lord, and he keeps a strict account of that person's sins.
2| Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then, when you pray, your own sins will be released.
3| Can a man nurse anger against another man, and then seek healing from the Lord?
4| He has no mercy on a man like himself, and yet he begs pardon for his own sins?
5| He himself, mere flesh, holds fast to his wrath — who will make atonement for his sins?
6| Remember your end, and stop your hostility; remember decay and death, and hold fast to the commandments.
7| Remember the commandments and do not rage against your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offense.
8| Keep away from quarreling, and you will lessen your sins, for a hot-tempered man kindles a quarrel,
9| and a sinful man stirs up friends and throws slander in among those living at peace.
10| As fuel feeds a fire, so a quarrel is kindled in proportion; as a man's strength is, so will his wrath be, and he will raise up his anger according to his wealth, and the quarrel will blaze according to how firmly it is fed.
11| A dispute rushed into kindles fire, and a quarrel rushed into spills blood.
12| If you blow on a spark, it will flare up; if you spit on it, it will go out — and both come out of your mouth.
13| Curse the whisperer and the double-tongued, for they have destroyed many who were at peace.
14| A third tongue has shaken multitudes and scattered them from one people to another; it has torn down fortified cities and overturned the houses of the great.
15| A third tongue has driven out strong women and stripped them of the fruits of their labor.
16| Whoever pays heed to it will never find rest, nor will he dwell in peace.
17| The blow of a whip raises welts, but the blow of a tongue shatters bones.
18| Countless people have died by the sword's blade, but far more have perished because of the tongue.
19| Blessed is the one sheltered from it, who has not passed through its fury, who has not dragged its yoke, and has not been bound in its chains;
20| for its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its chains are chains of bronze.
21| Death by it is a wretched death, and Hades itself is more welcome than it.
22| It will not overpower the godly, and they will not be burned in its flame.
23| Those who abandon the Lord will fall into it, and it will blaze among them and will not be quenched; it will be sent out against them like a lion, and like a leopard it will maul them.
24| See to it: fence in your property with thorns, and bind up your silver and gold.
25| Make a balance and a scale for your words, and make a door and a bolt for your mouth.
26| Take care not to slip because of it, lest you fall before one lying in wait.