Sirach 21
Good News Translation
Sin
21 My child, have you sinned? Don't do it again, and pray for forgiveness for what you have already done. 2 Avoid sin as if it were a snake. If you get too near, it will sink its teeth into your soul like a lion, and destroy you. 3 Every lawless act leaves an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged sword.
4 If a person is insolent and arrogant, he may lose everything he has.
5 (A)When poor people pray, God hears them and quickly answers their prayers.
6 If you refuse to accept correction, you are committing a sin; and if you fear the Lord, you will make a sincere change in your ways.
7 Someone may be famous as a good speaker, but when he is wrong, a sensible person will detect it.
8 Anyone who borrows money to build a house is just collecting stones for his own tomb.[a]
9 A group of people who have no respect for the Law is like a pile of kindling; they will meet a fiery end. 10 The road that sinners walk is smooth and paved, but it leads to the world of the dead.
Wisdom and Foolishness
11 Whoever wants to keep the Law must learn what the Law means. If you fear the Lord in every sense of the term, you will have wisdom. 12 You have to be intelligent to learn anything; but there is such a thing as just pretending to be intelligent, which only makes people bitter. 13 A wise person's knowledge is like a river that never runs dry, like an everflowing stream of good advice.
14 A fool, on the other hand, has a mind like a jar with a hole in it; anything he learns is soon lost.
15 When an educated person hears something that shows insight, it stimulates his mind and leads him on to other ideas. But when someone who is satisfied with ignorance hears it, he won't like it, and will forget it as soon as he can. 16 Listening to a foolish person talk is like traveling with a heavy load on your back, but it is a pleasure to hear what intelligent people have to say. 17 The assembly will be eager to hear from an intelligent person and will take his opinion seriously.
18 To an ignorant person, wisdom is as useless as a house gone to ruin. He has never even thought about the things he is so sure of. 19 To a person without any sense, an education is like handcuffs, 20-21 but to a sensible person, it is like gold bracelets. An intelligent person will smile quietly while a fool roars with laughter. 22-23 A stupid person will peep into someone's house through the door and then march right in, but someone with experience and good manners will have enough respect to wait outside. 24 Eavesdropping at doors is bad manners, and anyone with a sense of decency would be ashamed to do it.
25 Presumptuous people talk about things that are none of their business,[b] but the wise will consider the consequences of what they say. 26 Fools say whatever comes to mind; wise people think before they speak.
27 When a wicked person curses his enemy[c] he is cursing himself.
28 A gossip ruins his own character, and everyone in the neighborhood hates him.
Footnotes
- Sirach 21:8 his own tomb; some manuscripts have the winter.
- Sirach 21:25 Probable text Presumptuous...business; Greek The lips of strangers speak of these things.
- Sirach 21:27 his enemy; or Satan.
Sirach 21
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
21 My son, hast thou sinned? do so no more: but for thy former sins also pray that they may be forgiven thee.
2 Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest near them, they will take hold of thee.
3 The teeth thereof are the teeth of a lion, killing the souls of men.
4 All iniquity is like a two-edged sword, there is no remedy for the wound thereof.
5 Injuries and wrongs will waste riches: and the house that is very rich shall be brought to nothing by pride: so the substance of the proud shall be rooted out.
6 The prayer out of the mouth of the poor shall reach the ears of God, and judgment shall come for him speedily.
7 He that hateth to be reproved walketh in the trace of a sinner: and he that feareth God will turn to his own heart.
8 He that is mighty by a bold tongue is known afar off, but a wise man knoweth to slip by him.
9 He that buildeth his house at other men's charges, is as he that gathereth himself stones to build in the winter.
10 The congregation of sinners is like tow heaped together, and the end of them is a flame of fire.
11 The way of sinners is made plain with stones, and in their end is hell, and darkness, and pains.
12 He that keepeth justice shall get the understanding thereof.
13 The perfection of the fear of God is wisdom and understanding.
14 He that is not wise in good, will not be taught.
15 But there is a wisdom that aboundeth in evil: and there is no understanding where there is bitterness.
16 The knowledge of a wise man shall abound like a flood, and his counsel continueth like a fountain of life.
17 The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and no wisdom at all shall it hold.
18 A man of sense will praise every wise word he shall hear, and will apply it to himself: the luxurious man hath heard it, and it shall displease him, and he will cast it behind his back.
19 The talking of a fool is like a burden in the way: but in the lips of the wise, grace shall be found.
20 The mouth of the prudent is sought after in the church, and they will think upon his words in their hearts.
21 As a house that is destroyed, so is wisdom to a fool: and the knowledge of the unwise is as words without sense.
22 Doctrine to a fool is as fetters on the feet, and like manacles on the right hand.
23 A fool lifteth up his voice in laughter: but a wise man will scarce laugh low to himself.
24 Learning to the prudent is as an ornament of gold, and like a bracelet upon his right arm.
25 The foot of a fool is soon in his neighbour's house: but a man of experience will be abashed at the person of the mighty.
26 A fool will peep through the window into the house: but he that is well taught will stand without.
27 It is the folly of a man to hearken at the door: and a wise man will be grieved with the disgrace.
28 The lips of the unwise will be telling foolish things but the words of the wise shall be weighed in a balance.
29 The heart of fools is in their mouth: and the mouth of wise men is in their heart.
30 While the ungodly curseth the devil, he curseth his own soul.
31 The talebearer shall defile his own soul, and shall be hated by all: and he that shall abide with him shall be hateful: the silent and wise man shall be honoured.
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