Ecclesiasticus / Sirach - The Old Testament

¹ A drunken workman will never grow rich, and one who makes light of small matters will gradually sink.

² Wine and women corrupt intelligent men, the customer of whores loses all sense of shame.

³ Grubs and worms will have him as their legacy, and the man who knows no shame will lose his life.

⁴ Being too ready to trust shows shallowness of mind, and sinning harms the sinner.

⁵ Taking pleasure in evil earns condemnation;

⁶ by hating gossip one avoids evil.

⁷ Never repeat what you are told and you will come to no harm;

⁸ whether to friend or foe, do not talk about it, unless it would be sinful not to, do not reveal it;

⁹ you would be heard out, then mistrusted, and in due course you would be hated.

¹⁰ Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Courage! It will not burst you!

¹¹ A fool will suffer birthpangs over a piece of news, like a woman labouring with child.

¹² Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a piece of news inside a fool.

¹³ Question your friend, he may have done nothing at all; and if he has done anything, he will not do it again.

¹⁴ Question your neighbour, he may have said nothing at all; and if he has said anything, he will not say it again.

¹⁵ Question your friend, for slander is very common, do not believe all you hear.

¹⁶ People sometimes make a slip, without meaning what they say; and which of us has never sinned by speech?

¹⁷ Question your neighbour before you threaten him, and defer to the Law of the Most High.

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20</sup> Wisdom consists entirely in fearing the Lord, and wisdom is entirely constituted by the fulfilling of the Law.

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22</sup> Being learned in evil, however, is not wisdom, there is no prudence in the advice of sinners.

²³ There is a cleverness that is detestable; whoever has no wisdom is a fool.

²⁴ Better be short of sense and full of fear, than abound in shrewdness and violate the Law.

²⁵ There is a wickedness which is scrupulous but nonetheless dishonest, and there are those who misuse kindness to win their case.

²⁶ There is the person who will walk bowed down with grief, when inwardly this is nothing but deceit:

²⁷ he hides his face and pretends to be deaf, if he is not unmasked, he will take advantage of you.

²⁸ There is the person who is prevented from sinning by lack of strength, yet he will do wrong when he gets the chance.

²⁹ You can tell a person by his appearance, you can tell a thinker by the look on his face.

³⁰ The way a person dresses, the way he laughs, the way he walks, tell you what he is.