The Sibyl · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Every boundary is just, and transgression brings grief.
Wealth is a blessing to the righteous, but to the unjust it is ruin.
Do not harm any fruit of the field as it ripens.
Let strangers be held in equal honor among the citizens;
for all will know the many hardships of exile,
(strangers to one another; yet none among you
shall be a stranger, since all mortals are of one blood,)
and no land holds a fixed place for men.
(Do not wish to be rich, nor pray for it; pray instead
to live on little, possessing nothing unjust.)
Love of money is the mother of every evil.
(Let there be no craving for gold or silver; for in these too
a double-edged, soul-destroying iron shall be found.)
Silver and gold are forever a trap laid for mankind.
Gold, author of evils, destroyer of life, corrupter of all things,
would that you had never become a longed-for torment to mortals;
for through you come wars and plunder and murders,
and children grow hateful to parents, and brothers to their own kin.
(Do not weave deceits; do not arm your heart against a friend.)
Do not hide one thought in your heart while speaking another;
and do not shift about like an octopus clinging to the rock.
Be plain and open with everyone, and say what comes from the soul.
Whoever does wrong willingly is a wicked man; but whoever does so under compulsion—
I will not declare the outcome; the intent of each is the true judge.
Do not exult in wisdom, nor in strength, nor in wealth;
God alone is wise and mighty and rich in every blessing.
Do not wear out your heart over evils that are past;
for what has been done can no longer be undone.
Be not quick with your hand; hold the wild temper in check;
for often a blow struck unwillingly has ended in murder.
Let sufferings be shared in common; seek nothing great or overweening.
Excess was never a good gift to mortals.
Great luxury draws men toward measureless desires.
Great wealth puffs up the heart and swells into arrogance.
Anger, once kindled, breeds a ruinous madness.
Wrath is desire; when it oversteps its bound, it becomes rage.
Zeal for good things is noble, but zeal for base things is base.
Daring in evil is destructive, but in good deeds it brings glory.
Reverent is the love of virtue, but the love of Cypris brings shame.
He who is *gentle and kind* is called sweet among the citizens.
Eat, drink, and speak in due measure;
measure is best in all things; transgression brings grief.
(Be not envious, be not faithless, be not slanderous,
nor ill-minded, nor a boundless deceiver of others.)
Practice self-control, and hold back from shameful deeds.
Do not imitate wickedness; leave vengeance to justice;
for persuasion is a blessing, but strife breeds further strife.
Do not trust too quickly, before you see the outcome clearly.
This is the contest, these are the prizes, these the rewards,
this is the gate of life and the entrance to immortality,