Bernard of Clairvaux

Prologue. Listen, O my son, to the precepts of the master and incline the ear of your heart; willingly receive the counsel of a tender father, and put it into practice, so that the labor of obedience may bring you back to Him from whom the cowardice of disobedience had estranged you. It is therefore to you, whoever you may be, that I now address myself, you who, renouncing your own wills, take up the very powerful and noble weapons of obedience to fight under the true King, Christ the Lord...

The first is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deut. 6.)

2. Then, love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22.)

3. Afterwards, do not kill. (Luke 18.)

4. Do not commit fornication. (Matt. 19.)

5. Do not steal. (Levit. 19.)

6. Do not have bad desires. (Dom. 5.)

7. Do not bear false witness. (Mark 10.)

8. Honor all kinds of people. (1. Pet. 2.)

9. Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. (Tob. 4.)

10. Completely renounce yourself to follow Jesus Christ. (Joel. 9.)

11. Discipline your body. (1. Cor. 9.)

12. Flee from pleasures. (Tim. 5.)

13. Love fasting. (Joel. 1.)

14. Assist the poor. (Eccl. 4.)

15. Clothe those who are naked. (Isaiah. 58.)

16. Visit the sick. (Eccli. 7.)

17. To bury the dead. (Tob. 1.)

18. To help those who are in oppression. (Eccl. 6.)

19. To comfort the afflicted. (1. Thess. 5.)

20. To distance oneself from the conduct and maxims of the people of the world. (Jac. 1.)

21. To prefer nothing to the love of Jesus Christ. (Matth. 10.)

22. To resist the movements of anger. (Matth. 5.)

23. To not reserve any time for vengeance. (Ephes. 4.)

24. To not nurture in one's heart either fraud or deceit. (Prov. 12. Job. 36.)

25. To not give signs of friendship that are not sincere. (Ps. 27.)

26. To never separate from charity. (1. Pier. 4.)

27. To not swear, for fear of falling into perjury. (Matth. 5.)

28. To speak the truth from the heart as well as from the mouth. (Ps. 14.)

29. To not repay evil for evil. (1. Thess. 5.)

30. To not injure anyone; but to patiently endure when one is injured. (1. Cor. 6.)

31. To love one's enemies. (Matth. 5.)

32. To not speak ill of those who speak ill of us, and to have only feelings of blessing for them. (1. Pier. 3.)

33. To suffer persecution for justice. (Matth. 5.)

34. To not be proud. (Job. 4.)

35. Nor addicted to wine. (1. Tim. 3.)

36. Nor intemperate. (Eccli. 37.)

37. Neither asleep. (Prov. 20.)

38. Neither lazy. (Prov. 42.)

39. Neither a murmurer. (1. Cor. 10.)

40. Neither a slanderer. (Wis. 6.)

41. Place all your trust in God. (Ps. 72.)

42. If one sees some good in oneself, give it to God, and not claim it for oneself. (1. Cor. 4.)

43. Attribute to oneself all the evil one does, and believe oneself to be the cause. (Hosea, 13.)

44. Fear the day of judgment. (Luke, 19.)

45. Regard hell with fear. (Matt. 10.)

46. Desire eternal life with all the extent of one's charity. (Phil. 1.)

47. Have death before one's eyes each day, as if it is about to surprise us. (Matt. 24.)

48. Watch over one's actions at every moment of life. (Deut. 4.)

49. Be convinced that there is no place where God does not see us. (Prov. 5.)

50. Reject all the bad thoughts that come to us, break them at the moment they arise, against the stone, which is Jesus Christ. (Ps. 136.)

51. And reveal them to the spiritual father.

52. Keep one's tongue from any disordered speech. (Ps. 33, 38.)

53. Do not love to speak much. (Prov. 10.)

54. Do not say vain words, nor those that could lead to laughter. (Matt. 12.)

55. Do not love to laugh a lot, nor in an immodest way. (Eccli. 21.)

56. Listen with pleasure to the holy readings. (Luke 11.)

57. Pray often. (Luke 18.)

58. Confess every day to God in prayer, with groans and tears, the disorders of one's past life, and correct oneself with care. (Ps. 6.)

59. Do not consent to the desires that flesh and blood may inspire. (Gal. 5.)

60. Hate one's own will. (Eccli. 18.)

61. Obey in all things the orders of the Abbot, even if (God forbid) he does not do what he teaches (Heb. 13); remembering this commandment of the Lord, Do what they say, and not what they do. (Matt. 23.)

62. Do not want to be considered holy before one is; but be holy indeed, so that one may deserve to be considered such. (Matt. 6.)

63. Express the commandments of God in one's works every day. (Eccli. 6.)

64. Love chastity. (1 Tim. 1.)

65. Do not hate anyone. (Levit. 19.)

66. Be neither envious nor jealous. (Gal. 5.)

67. Do not love disputes. (2 Tim. 2.)

68. Flee the lift of vain glory. (Ps. 130.)

69. Revere your elders. (Levit. 19.)

70. Love those below you. (1 Tim. 5.)

71. Pray for your enemies with the love you have for Jesus Christ. (Matt. 5.)

72. Be reconciled before the sun sets, with those who have some disagreement with us. (Ephes. 4.)

73. And never despair of the mercy of God. (Is. 51; Ezek. 18.)