Глава 12
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Provide help to those who need and benefit from this help. Be careful about your enemies.
Sir.12:1 If you do good, know to whom you do it, and there will be gratitude for your good deeds.
Sir.12:2 Do good to the pious, and you will receive reward, and if not from him, then from the Most High.
Sir.12:3 There is no good for one who constantly engages in evil and who does not give alms.
Sir.12:4 Give to the pious, and do not help the sinner.
Sir.12:5 Do good to the humble, and do not give to the wicked: withhold bread from him and do not give it to him, lest he thereby overcome you;
4–5. Explained in verse 6.
Sir.12:6 For you would have received extreme evil for all the good that you would have done to him; for the Most High hates sinners and rewards the wicked with vengeance.
Sir.12:7 Give to the good, and do not help the sinner.
Sir.12:8 A friend is not known in happiness, and an enemy is not hidden in misfortune.
Sir.12:9 When a man is happy, his enemies are in sorrow, and in his misfortune his friend will separate from him.
Sir.12:10 Do not trust your enemy forever, for as brass rusts, so does his malice:
Sir.12:11 Even if he humbles himself and walks bent over, be attentive in your soul and beware of him, and you will be before him like a clean mirror, and you will know that he has not been completely cleansed of rust;
Sir.12:12 Do not place him near you, lest he cast you down and take your place; do not seat him on your right side, lest he someday begin to covet your seat, and you will finally understand my words and remember my instructions with sorrow.
Sir.12:13 Who will regret the bite of a snake charmer and all those who approach wild beasts? So it is about one who draws close to a sinner and shares in his sins:
Sir.12:14 He will stay with you for a while, but if you waver, he will not stand.
14. He won't resist hurting you.
Sir.12:15 With his lips the enemy will delight you, but in his heart he plots to throw you into a pit: with his eyes the enemy will weep, and when he finds an opportunity, he will not be satisfied with blood.
Sir.12:16 If misfortune befalls you, you will find it there before you,
Sir.12:17 and he, as if wanting to help, will trip you up:
Sir.12:18 He will nod his head and clap his hands, he will whisper many things, and he will change his face.
18. Causing harm to you and rejoicing at your misfortune, your enemy will pretend that he deeply sympathizes with you.