Sirach 22:27-23:15

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁷ Who will set a guard over my mouth
    and an effective seal upon my lips,
so that I may not fall because of them
    and my tongue may not destroy me?^(A)

⁷ Listen, my children, to instruction concerning the mouth;
    the one who observes it will never be caught.
⁸ Sinners are overtaken through their lips;
    by them the reviler and the arrogant are tripped up.^(G)
9 Do not accustom your mouth to oaths
    nor habitually utter the name of the Holy One,^(H)
10 for as a slave who is constantly under scrutiny
    will not lack bruises,
so also the person who always swears and utters the Name
    will never be cleansed^[d] from sin.^(I)
11 The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity,
    and the scourge will not leave his house.
If he swears in error, his sin remains on him,
    and if he disregards it, he sins doubly;
if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified,
    for his house will be filled with calamities.^(J)

¹² There is a manner of speaking comparable to death;^[e]
    may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob!
Such conduct will be far from the godly,
    and they will not wallow in sins.^(K)
13 Do not accustom your mouth to lewd ignorance,
    for it involves sinful speech.
¹⁴ Remember your father and mother
    when you sit among the great,
or you may forget yourself in their presence,
    and behave like a fool through habit;
then you will wish that you had never been born,
    and you will curse the day of your birth.^(L)
15 Those who are accustomed to using abusive language
    will never become disciplined as long as they live.