Ben Sira 33:17-27

17 In the blessing of God I also have hoped: and as one that gathereth grapes, have I filled the winepress.
18 See that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek discipline.
19 Hear me, ye great men, and all ye people, and hearken with your ears, ye rulers of the church.
20 Give not to son or wife, brother or friend, power over thee while thou livest; and give not thy estate to another, lest then repent, and thou entreat for the same.
21 As long as thou livest, and hast breath in thee, let no man change thee.
22 For it is better that thy children should ask of thee, than that thou look toward the hands of thy children.
23 In all thy works keep the pre-eminence.
24 Let no stain sully thy glory. In the time when thou shalt end the days of thy life, and in the time of thy decease, distribute thy inheritance.
25 Fodder, and a wand, and a burden are for an ass: bread, and correction, and work for a slave.
26 He worketh under correction, and seeketh to rest: let his hands be idle, and he seeketh liberty.
27 The yoke and the thong bend a stiff neck, and continual labours bow a slave.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.