Sirach 21  Revised Standard Version

⁴ Terror and violence will lay waste riches;
    thus the house of the proud will be laid waste.
⁵ The prayer of a poor man goes from his lips to the ears of God,^[a]
    and his judgment comes speedily.
⁶ Whoever hates reproof walks in the steps of the sinner,
    but he that fears the Lord will repent in his heart.
⁷ He who is mighty in speech is known from afar;
    but the sensible man, when he slips, is aware of it.

⁸ A man who builds his house with other people’s money
    is like one who gathers stones for his burial mound.^[b]
9 An assembly of the wicked is like tow gathered together,
    and their end is a flame of fire.
¹⁰ The way of sinners is smoothly paved with stones,
    but at its end is the pit of Hades.

¹⁵ When a man of understanding hears a wise saying,
    he will praise it and add to it;
when a reveler hears it, he dislikes it
    and casts it behind his back.
¹⁶ A fool’s narration is like a burden on a journey,
    but delight will be found in the speech of the intelligent.
¹⁷ The utterance of a sensible man will be sought in the assembly,
    and they will ponder his words in their minds.

¹⁸ Like a house that has vanished, so is wisdom to a fool;
    and the knowledge of the ignorant is unexamined talk.
¹⁹ To a senseless man education is fetters on his feet,
    and like manacles on his right hand.
²⁰ A fool raises his voice when he laughs,
    but a clever man smiles quietly.
²¹ To a sensible man education is like a golden ornament,
    and like a bracelet on the right arm.

²² The foot of a fool rushes into a house,
    but a man of experience stands respectfully before it.
²³ A boor peers into the house from the door,
    but a cultivated man remains outside.
²⁴ It is ill-mannered for a man to listen at a door,
    and a discreet man is grieved by the disgrace.
²⁵ The lips of strangers will speak of these things,^[c]
    but the words of the prudent will be weighed in the balance.
²⁶ The mind of fools is in their mouth,
    but the mouth of wise men is in^[d] their mind.
²⁷ When an ungodly man curses his adversary,^[e]
    he curses his own soul.
²⁸ A whisperer defiles his own soul
    and is hated in his neighborhood.