Sirach 12

¹If you do good, know to whom you do it,

and your good deeds will have thanks.

²Do good to a godly man, and you will find a reward—

if not from him, then from the Most High.

³No good will come to him who continues to do evil,

nor to him who gives no alms.

⁴Give to the godly man,

and don’t help the sinner.1

⁵Do good to one who is lowly.

Don’t give to an ungodly man.

Keep back his bread, and don’t give it to him,

lest he subdue you with it;

for you would receive twice as much evil

for all the good you would have done to him.1

⁶For the Most High also hates sinners,

and will repay vengeance to the ungodly.1

⁷Give to the good man,

and don’t help the sinner.

⁸A man’s friend won’t be fully tried in prosperity.

His enemy won’t be hidden in adversity.

⁹In a man’s prosperity, his enemies are grieved.

In his adversity, even his friend leaves.

¹⁰Never trust your enemy,

for his wickedness is like corrosion in copper.

¹¹Though he humbles himself and walks bowed down,

still be careful and beware of him.

You will be to him as one who has wiped a mirror,

to be sure it doesn’t completely tarnish.

¹²Don’t set him next to you,

lest he overthrow you and stand in your place.

Don’t let him sit on your right hand,

lest he seek to take your seat,

and at the last you acknowledge my words,

and be pricked with my sayings.

¹³Who will pity a charmer that is bitten by a snake,

or any who come near wild beasts?

¹⁴Even so, who will pity him who goes to a sinner,

and is associated with him in his sins?

¹⁵For a while he will stay with you,

and if you falter, he will not stay.

¹⁶The enemy will speak sweetly with his lips,

and in his heart plan to throw you into a pit.

The enemy may weep with his eyes,

but if he finds opportunity, he will want more blood.

¹⁷If adversity meets you, you will find him there before you.

Pretending to help you, he will trip you.

¹⁸He will shake his head, clap his hands,

whisper much, and change his countenance.