Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) — Chapter 7

Do not evil, and evil shall not lay hold of thee. The fundamental moral law: evil done produces evil suffered. Lapide explains this as a play on \"mala\" (evils of sin and evils of punishment), using the law of moral retribution established by God in creation.

My son, sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold. Sowing evil in injustice reaps a sevenfold harvest of punishment. Lapide treats the agricultural metaphor as conveying the multiplication of punishment beyond the original sin.

Seek not of the Lord a pre-eminence, nor of the king the seat of honour. Ambition for ecclesiastical or civil offices is warned against. Lapide teaches that divine and human approval is incompatible with self-seeking ambition; God appoints; man should not seek.

Justify not thyself before God, for He is the knower of hearts; and desire not to appear wise before the king. Humility before God and king: self-justification before God is futile since He knows the heart; seeking the reputation of wisdom before rulers is vanity. Lapide cites Job, Paul, and Augustine on the divine knowledge of human hearts.

Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have virtue enough to extirpate iniquities; lest thou fear the person of the powerful, and lay a stumbling block for thy integrity. The gravity of the judicial office: only the truly virtuous should seek to be judges. Lapide warns against the dangers of partiality toward the powerful, which destroys judicial integrity and souls.

Bind not two sins together; for even in one thou shalt not be unpunished. The principle against habitual sin: each sin has its own punishment; compounding them multiplies guilt exponentially. Lapide uses this to argue against presumptuous repeat-sinning.

Be not fainthearted in prayer; and neglect not to give alms. Two positive duties: perseverance in prayer and faithfulness in almsgiving. Lapide treats these as the two wings of the spiritual life, citing Christ's teaching that prayer and alms together constitute the most efficacious spiritual warfare.

Hate not laborious works, nor husbandry ordained by the Most High. Manual labor is divinely ordained; contempt for it is a form of pride. Lapide teaches that Siracides here follows the tradition of Scripture (Gen. 3:19) in affirming the dignity of physical labor.

Humble thy spirit greatly; for the vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms. The memory of hell—fire and worms—is the great humiliator of the flesh. Lapide exhorts the reader to mortification of the body as a preventive medicine against the eternal punishments of the body.

Depart not from a wise and good woman, whom thou hast gotten in the fear of God; for the grace of her modesty is above gold. The good wife obtained in the fear of God is not to be abandoned for a richer or more attractive woman. Lapide teaches that spiritual compatibility and modesty in a wife are worth more than all material wealth.

Hast thou sons? Instruct them, and bow them down from their childhood. Children must be educated and disciplined from the earliest age. Lapide cites the proverb \"train a child in the way he should go\" (Prov. 22:6) and multiple Fathers on the parents' grave duty of early formation.

With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence His priests. The fear of the Lord and reverence for His priests—representing the first commandment and ecclesiastical piety—are explicitly linked. Lapide emphasizes that honoring God's priests is an extension of honoring God Himself.

Give glory to God with a good heart; and diminish not the first-fruits of thy hands. Tithes and first-fruits belong to God by right, not merely by law. Lapide exhorts both literal observance (support of clergy and church) and the figurative offering of one's first and best works to God.

Let not the gift of a good man be forgotten, for he gave of his substance. The memory of benefactors—both the living and the dead—must be preserved. Lapide connects this to the doctrine of Purgatory and the duty of praying for those who have died in God's service.

Forsake not the sad in their grief, and be not tardy in consoling the mourning. Active accompaniment of the sorrowful is a work of mercy directly commanded. Lapide notes that Christians who console the suffering participate in Christ's own compassion.

Be not slow to visit the sick; for by these things thou shalt be confirmed in love. Visiting the sick strengthens charity in the visitor. Lapide teaches that corporal works of mercy purify and deepen the theological virtue of charity.

In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin. The memory of the four last things (death, judgment, hell, heaven) is the universal remedy against all sin. Lapide calls this the \"golden rule of morality\" and cites Bernard, Chrysostom, and Gregory in its praise.