94

of the soul. He who guards his own mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from tribulation. A soft tongue breaks bones. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who control it will eat its fruits. Blessed is the man who will not slip with his mouth. A sweet throat multiplies their friends. Who will set a guard over my mouth, and a seal upon my lips, that I may not fall because of them, and that my tongue may not destroy me? He who hates talkativeness, lessens evil. Good things poured out, upon a closed mouth. I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. Set, O Lord, a guard to my mouth, and a door of enclosure around my lips. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is perfect, able to bridle the body. To practice moderation in voice, is endurance of lust. You do not know how great a gift from God silence is; but speak, if you have something better than silence. And love quietness, where to be silent is better than to speak. Idle talk is not sweet to the faithful, nor contradictions of words. For even one opponent is enough. A wise man, even while silent, honors God, knowing also why he is silent. Spare me, I beg you, from the same unruly tongue. For a slip of the tongue is more grievous than a slip of the feet. TITLE 15. -Concerning those who do not guard their tongue. Keep yourself from every unjust word. From the scourge of the tongue he will hide you. Their throat is an open tomb. 95.1344 The Lord will destroy all deceitful lips, the tongue that speaks great things. They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent. A talkative man will not be guided aright upon the earth. Your mouth has abounded in evil, and your tongue has woven deceit. O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips, and from a deceitful tongue. His own lips are a strong snare for a man; and he is caught by the words of his own mouth. He who is houseless, being perverse in his lips, will be supplanted. A grievous word stirs up anger. A double-tongued man reveals counsels in the assembly. The mouth of fools proclaims evil. The perverse in his own mouth bears destruction. A man of changeable tongue will fall into evil. The lips of a fool lead him into evils, and his rash mouth calls for death. A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. A deep pit is the mouth of the lawless; and he who is hated by the Lord will fall into it. With much wood, a fire thrives; but a houseless mouth makes disorders. Through the sin of his lips the sinner falls into a snare. In a multitude of words you will not escape sin. -Put away from yourself a perverse mouth, and put unjust lips far from you. -The uninstructed, are incontinent in tongue. If you draw out a word, judgment and strife will go forth. He who answers a matter before he hears, it is folly and shame to him. Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. A fool multiplies words. -Do not stand in an evil matter. They have bent their tongue like a bow. He who abounds in words will be abhorred. An arrow stuck in the thigh of the flesh, so is a word in the belly of a fool. -Merciless is he who does not keep words. Do not contend with a talkative man, and do not pile wood on his fire. -A talkative man is feared in the city. A slip from the pavement, or from the tongue. The stroke of a whip makes a weal, but the stroke of a tongue will break bones. -Your silver and your gold bind up, and for your words make a balance and a weight, and for your mouth make a door 95.1345 and a bolt; take heed lest you slip in it, - Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not as many as those who have fallen because of the tongue. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. Now if we put the bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we also guide their whole body; behold also the ships, being so great, and driven by fierce winds, are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the one steering

94

ψυχῆς. Ὃς φυλάσσει τὸ ἑαυτοῦ στόμα καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν, τηρεῖ ἐκ θλίψεως τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. Γλῶσσα μαλακὴ συντρίβει ὀστᾶ. Θάνατος καὶ ζωὴ ἐν χειρὶ γλώσσης, οἱ δὲ κρατοῦντες αὐτὴν ἔδονται τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς. Μακάριος ἀνὴρ, ὃς οὐκ ὀλισθήσεται ἐν στόματι αὐτοῦ. Λάρυγξ γλυκὺς πληθύνει φίλους αὐτῶν. Τίς δώσει ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματός μου φυλακὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χειλέων μου σφραγῖδα, ἵνα μὴ ἐκπέσῃ ἀπ' αὐτῆς, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσά μου ἀπολέσῃ με; Ὁ μισῶν λαλιὰν, ἐλαττοῦται κακίαν. Ἀγαθὰ ἐκκεχυμένα, ἐπὶ στόματι κεκλεισμένῳ. Εἶπα, Φυλάξω τὰς ὁδούς μου, τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν με ἐν γλώσσῃ μου. Θοῦ, Κύριε, φυλακὴν τῷ στόματί μου, καὶ θύραν περιοχῆς περὶ τὰ χείλη μου. Ἔστω πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι, βραδὺς εἰς τὸ λαλῆσαι. Εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειός ἐστι, δυνάμενος χαλιναγωγῆσαι τὸ σῶμα. Τὸ περὶ τὴν φωνὴν ἀσκεῖν σωφρονεῖν, λαγνείας ἐστὶ καρτερία. Οὐκ ἴστε ἡλίκον ἐκ Θεοῦ δῶρον ἡ σιωπή· φθέγγου δὲ, εἴ τι κρεῖττον σιωπῆς ἔχεις. Ἀγάπα δὲ ἡσυχίαν, ἔνθα κρεῖττον λόγου τὸ σιωπᾷν. Οὐχ ἡδὺ τοῖς πιστοῖς ἀδολεσχία, καὶ λόγων ἀντιθέσεις. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ καὶ εἷς ἀντικείμενος. Σοφὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ σιγῶν, τὸν Θεὸν τιμᾷ, εἰδὼς καὶ διὰ τί σιγᾷ. Φείδου μοι, παρακαλῶ, τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀκαταστάτου γλώσσης. Χαλεπώτερος γὰρ ὁ τῆς γλώσσης ὄλισθος τοῦ τῶν ποδῶν ὀλίσθου. ΤΙΤΛ. ΙΕʹ. -Περὶ τῶν τὴν γλῶσσαν μὴ φυλαττόντων. Ἀπὸ παντὸς ῥήματος ἀδίκου ἀπόστηθι. Ἀπὸ μάστιγος γλώσσης κρύψει σε. Τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν. 95.1344 Ἐξολοθρεύσει Κύριος πάντα τὰ χείλη τὰ δόλια, γλῶσσαν μεγαλοῤῥήμονα. Ἠκόνησαν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ὄφεως. Ἀνὴρ γλωσσώδης οὐ κατευθυνθήσεται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Τὸ στόμα σου ἐπλεόνασε κακίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα σου περιέπλεκε δολιότητα. Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπὸ χειλέων ἀδίκων, καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης δολίας. Παγὶς ἀνδρὶ ἰσχυρὰ τὰ ἴδια χείλη· ἁλίσκεται δὲ ῥήμασιν ἰδίου στόματος. Ὁ ἄστεγος χείλεσιν ὑποσκολιάζων ὑποσκελισθήσεται. Λόγος λυπηρὸς ἐγείρει ὀργάς. Ἀνὴρ δίγλωσσος ἀποκαλύπτει βουλὰς ἐν συνεδρίῳ. Στόμα ἀφρόνων ἀναγγελεῖ κακά. Σκολιὸς ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ στόματι φέρει τὴν ἀπώλειαν. Ἀνὴρ εὐμετάβολος γλώσσῃ ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς κακά. Χείλη ἄφρονος ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς κακὰ, τὸ δὲ στόμα αὐτοῦ τὸ θρασὺ θάνατον ἐπικαλεῖται. Στόμα ἄφρονος συντρίβει αὐτὸν, τὰ δὲ χείλη αὐτοῦ παγὶς τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ. Βόθρος βαθὺς στόμα παρανόμου· ὁ δὲ μισηθεὶς ὑπὸ Κυρίου ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν. Ἐν πολλοῖς ξύλοις θαλεῖ πῦρ· στόμα δὲ ἄστεγον ποιεῖ ἀκαταστασίας. ∆ι' ἁμαρτίαν χειλέων ἐμπίπτει εἰς παγίδα ὁ ἁμαρτωλός. Ἐκ πολυλογίας οὐκ ἐκφεύξῃ ἁμαρτίαν. -Περίελε σεαυτοῦ σκολιὸν στόμα, καὶ ἄδικα χείλη μακρὰν ἀπὸ σοῦ ἄπωσαι. -Οἱ ἀπαίδευτοι, ἀκρατεῖς γλώσσῃ. Ἐὰν ἐξελκύσῃς λόγον, ἐξελεύσεται κρίσις, καὶ μάχη. Ὃς ἀποκρίνεται λόγον πρὶν ἀκούσῃ, ἀφροσύνη καὶ ὄνειδος αὐτῷ ἐστι. Μὴ σπεῦδε ἐπὶ στόματί σου, καὶ ἡ καρδία σου μὴ ταχυνάτω τοῦ ἐξενεγκεῖν λόγον πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἄφρων πληθύνει λόγους. -Μὴ στῇς ἐν λόγῳ πονηρῷ. Ἐνέτειναν γλῶσσαν αὐτῶν ὡς τόξον. Ὁ πλεονάζων λόγον, βδελυχθήσεται. Βέλος πεπηγὸς ἐν μηρῷ σαρκὸς, οὕτως λόγος ἐν κοιλία μωροῦ. -Ἀνελεήμων ὁ μὴ συντηρῶν λόγους. Μὴ διαμάχου μετὰ ἀνθρώπου γλωσσώδους, καὶ μὴ ἐπιστοιβάσῃς ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτοῦ ξύλα. -Φοβερὸς ἐν πόλει ἀνὴρ γλωσσώδης. Ὀλίσθημα ἀπὸ ἐδάφους, ἢ ἀπὸ γλώσσης. Πληγὴ μάστιγος ποιεῖ μώλωπα, πληγὴ δὲ γλώσσης συγκλάσει ὀστᾶ. -Τὸ ἀργύριόν σου, καὶ τὸ χρυσίον σου κατάδησον, καὶ τοῖς λόγοις σου ποίησον ζυγὸν καὶ σταθμὸν, καὶ τῷ στόματί σου ποίησον θύραν 95.1345 καὶ μοχλόν· πρόσεχε μή πως ὀλισθήσῃς ἐν αὐτῷ, - Πολλοὶ ἔπεσαν ἐν στόματι μαχαίρας, καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ πεπτωκότες διὰ γλώσσης. Εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνὴρ, δυνάμενος χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα. Εἰ δὲ τῶν ἵππων τοὺς χαλινοὺς εἰς τὰ στόματα βάλλομεν εἰς τὸ πείθεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν, καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα αὐτῶν μετάγομεν· ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ πλοῖα τηλικαῦτα ὄντα, καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνέμων σκληρῶν ἐλαυνόμενα μετάγεται ὑπὸ ἐλαχίστου πηδαλίου, ὅπου ἂν ἡ ὁρμὴ τοῦ εὐθύνοντος