22:31. I will not be ashamed to salute a friend, neither will I hide myself from his face: and if any evil happen to me by him, I will bear it.
22:32. But every one that shall hear it, will beware of him.
22:33. Who will set a guard before my mouth, and a sure seal upon my lips, that I fall not by them, and that my tongue destroy me not?
Ecclesiasticus Chapter 23
A prayer for grace to flee sin: cautions against profane swearing and other vices.
23:1. O Lord, father, and sovereign ruler of my life, leave me not to their counsel: nor suffer me to fall by them.
By them.... Viz., the tongue and the lips, mentioned in the last verse of the foregoing chapter.
23:2. Who will set scourges over my thoughts, and the discipline of wisdom over my heart, that they spare me not in their ignorances, and that their sins may not appear:
That they spare me not in their ignorances, etc.... That is, that the scourges and discipline of wisdom may restrain the ignorances, that is, the slips and offences which are usually committed by the tongue and the lips.
23:3. Lest my ignorances increase, and my offences be multiplied, and my sins abound, and I fall before my adversaries, and my enemy rejoice over me?