Sirach 22:27-23:6

Common English Bible

Prayer for protection from sinning

²⁷Who will put a guard on my mouth
    and an effective seal upon my lips
    so that I don’t fall
    because of my speech
    and so that my tongue
    doesn’t destroy me?

23 Lord, Father, and master of my life,
    don’t abandon me to their will,
    and don’t let me fall because of them.
²Who will station whips
to keep my thoughts in line
    and set the discipline of wisdom
    over my heart,
    so that I might not be spared my faults
    due to ignorance
    and my sins not go unnoticed?
³Otherwise, my acts of ignorance
might multiply,
    and my sins might increase,
    and I’ll fall before my adversaries,
    and my enemy will rejoice over me.^[a]
⁴Lord, Father, God of my life,
    don’t let me have prideful eyes;
⁵    turn desire away from me.
⁶Don’t allow gluttony or sexual desire
to overtake me,
    and don’t hand me over
    to a shameless spirit.^[b]