Sirach 37:10-12

Common English Bible

¹⁰ Don’t consult with people
who view you with suspicion;
    hide your plans from those
    who are jealous of you.
¹¹ Don’t consult with a woman
about her rival,
        or with the cowardly about war;
    or with a merchant about business,
        or with a buyer about a sale;
    or with a slanderer about gratitude,
        or with the unmerciful about kindness;
    or with the idle about anything
    involving work,
        or with an annual laborer about
        finishing a job;
    or with a lazy household slave
    about a large task.
    Don’t look to these persons
    for any advice.
¹² Consult^[a] instead with a godly person
    whom you know
    keeps the commandments,
    who thinks the same way you do
    and will empathize with you if you fail.