Sirach 12

1If you do good, know to whom you do good, and there will be hope for your kindness.

2Do good to the righteous, and you will find repayment—if not from him, then from Yahweh.

3No good comes to one who persists in wickedness, nor to one who does not show mercy.

4Give to the godly, and do not support the sinner.

5Do not give him your bread, lest by it he set himself against you.

6For God also hates evildoers, and will repay the wicked with vengeance.

7Give to the good, and withhold from the evil; honor the poor, and do not give to a stranger.

8A friend is not known in prosperity, and an enemy is not hidden in adversity.

9In a man's prosperity even an enemy is friendly, but in his adversity even a friend keeps apart.

10Do not trust an enemy forever, for as bronze rusts, so does his evil.

11Even if he listens to you and walks gently, give your heart to be afraid of him.

12Be to him like one who reveals a secret, and he will not find a way to ruin you; and know the outcome of jealousy.

13Do not set him beside you, lest he push you aside and stand in your place.

14Do not seat him at your right hand, lest he seek your seat.

15Afterward you will understand my words, and for my sister you will sigh.

16Who will pity a snake charmer who is bitten, or anyone who goes near a beast of prey?

17So is one who associates with a man of insolence and rolls about in his sins.

18He will not pass by until a fire burns in him.