The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Ecclesiasticus
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Chapter 37
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Friends every man has that will say, I love him well; yet friends they may be in name only. Death itself cannot match it for sadness,
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when friend and companion becomes thy enemy.
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Cruel pretence, what mind first conceived thee, to turn solid earth into a morass of foul treachery?
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A companion, how he will enjoy the delights of his friend’s prosperity, and turn against him in the hour of need!
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A companion, how he will share a friend’s grief if he may share his bake-meats; use him as a shield against some enemy!✻
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Never let friend of thine be far from thy thoughts; in thy prosperity never forget him.
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Never take counsel with one who may be laying a trap for thee; from his envy hide thy purpose;
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advice every counsellor will give thee, but some will counsel thee for their own ends.
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Be on thy guard, then, against him who advises thee; how is his own turn best served? What is his secret mind?
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It may be, he will hide stake in pit for thee, crying,
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Thy course lies clear; then stand at a distance to see what becomes of thee.
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Consult, if thou wilt,✻ unbeliever about holiness, knave about justice, woman about her rival, dastard about war, merchant about value, buyer about price, cynic about gratitude,
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scoffer about piety, rogue about honesty, farm labourer about work to be done,
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yearman about year’s end, idle servant about great undertakings; but all the advice they give thee heed thou never.
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Closet thyself rather with some man of holy life, known to thee as God’s worshipper,
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some soul well matched with thine, such as would grieve to see thee stumbling in darkness.
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And thy own heart enthrone as thy best counsellor; nothing may compare with that;
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there are times when a man of piety sees truth clearer than seven sentinels high in a watch-tower.
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With all this, entreat the most High to guide thy steps in the right path.
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For every undertaking, every act of thine let just consideration prepare thee, and trustworthy counsel.
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Ill counsel may make the heart veer round; four points its compass has, good and evil, life and death; and it is ever the tongue that sways it.✻
Shrewdness there is that can much impart, yet is its own enemy.
Shrewdness there is that can much impart, yet is its own enemy.
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And there is experience that imparts much to others, and is its own friend besides.
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There is quibbling talk that will earn thee enemies, and an empty belly;
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no power to win men the Lord has given it, so empty is it of all wisdom.
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But there is wisdom that befriends the owner of it, earning high meed of praise;
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if thus thou art wise, wisdom thou shalt impart to thy fellows, and shalt not miss thy own reward;
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blessings the wise man reaps from all around, to see him is to praise him.
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Man’s days are numbered, Israel’s none can number,
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and among our people the wise man wins an inheritance of honour, a deathless renown.
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Son, as thy life goes on, make trial of thy appetites, and if harmful they be, give them no liberty;
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not all things all men suit, nor please.
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When there is feasting, thy greed restrain; do not fall upon all the meats thou seest;
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much feasting breeds infirmity, gluttony the bile,
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and many have died of surfeiting; the temperate live long.
