The Sibyl · a new plain-English translation from the original language
to those who live in holiness and know the one God.
But those who love marriage and refrain from adultery,
he will give rich gifts, and everlasting hope besides.
For every soul of mortal men is a gift of God,
and it is not right for men to stain it with every kind of grief.
Do not grow rich unjustly, but live from holy gains.
Be content with what you have, and keep from what belongs to others.
Speak no falsehoods, but guard all that is true.
(Do not worship idols in vain — but the one who never perishes.)
Honor God first, and after him your parents.
Deal out all things justly, and never come to unjust judgment.
Do not cast down the poor unjustly, and do not judge by appearance.
If you judge wrongly, God will afterward judge you.
Flee false witness, and give the verdict that is just.
Guard what is entrusted to you; keep love in all things.
Give just measures; and let the measure run over for all.
Do not tip the scale unevenly, but weigh things equal.
Do not swear falsely, neither unknowing nor of your own will.
God hates the false swearer, whatever oath a man has sworn.
(Never take into your hand a gift from unjust deeds.)
Do not steal seed; cursed is whoever takes it —
(cursed unto generations of generations, unto the scattering of life.
Do not lie with a male, do not slander, and do not murder.)
Give wages to the one who toils; do not oppress the poor.
Hold your tongue in check by your mind; keep a hidden word in your heart.
(Give to orphans, widows, and those in need.)
Neither wish to do wrong, nor let a wrongdoer go free.
Give to the poor at once, and do not tell them to come tomorrow.
(Give with a hand that has sweated for the grain to one in need.
Whoever gives alms knows that he lends to God.
Mercy rescues from death, when judgment comes.
God wants not sacrifice, but mercy in place of sacrifice.
Clothe the naked, then, and share your bread with the hungry.)
Take the homeless into your house, and guide the blind.
Pity the shipwrecked, for the voyage is uncertain.
Give a hand to the one who has fallen; save a man who stands alone.
Suffering is common to all, life is a wheel, and prosperity unstable.
If you have wealth, stretch out your hand to the poor.
Of what God has given you, give to one in need.
Life is common to all mortals, though it is shaped unequal.
(Never, seeing a poor man, mock him with your words,
nor speak harshly to any man marked by blame.
Life is tested in death; if a man has done
lawless deeds or just, he is judged when he comes to judgment.
Do not harm your mind with wine, nor drink beyond measure.
Do not eat blood, and abstain from what is sacrificed to idols.)
Gird on the sword not for murder, but for defense.
May you never use it, neither unlawfully nor even justly —
for even if you kill an enemy, you stain your own hand.
Keep away from your neighbor's field, and do not cross its bounds.