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?
23:4. O Lord, father, and God of my life, leave me not to their devices.
23:5. Give me not haughtiness of my eyes, and turn away from me all coveting.