Sirach 28

Wycliffe Bible

28 He that will be (a)venged, shall find of (or from) the Lord vengeance; and he keeping shall keep his sins to be punished harder by his rightfulness. [Who will take vengeance, of the Lord shall find vengeance; and the sins of him keeping he shall keep.]

² Forgive thou to thy neighbour that annoyeth (or harmeth) thee, and then (thy) sins shall be released [or shall be forgiven] to thee (after) praying.

³ A man keepeth ire to (or for) (a) man; and seeketh he of (or from) God medicine (or remedy)? [A man to (or for) a man keepeth wrath; and of (or from) God he seeketh leeching or medicine.(?)]

⁴ He hath no mercy on a man like himself; and (yet) beseecheth he the Highest for his own sins?

⁵ He the while he is flesh, reserveth ire; and asketh he of God mercy? who shall pray for his sins?

⁶ Have thou mind on the last things, and cease thou to be (anyone’s) enemy. For why failing and death nigh (or approach) not in the commandments of God. [Have mind of thy last things, and leave (off) to be (anyone’s) enemy. Rottenness forsooth and death, stand on in the behests of him.]

⁷ Have thou mind on the dread of the Lord, and be not wroth to the neighbour. Have thou mind on the testament of the Highest, and despise thou the ignorance of thy neighbour. [Remember the dread of the Lord, and thou shalt not wrath to the neighbour. Remember the testament of the Highest, and despise the ignorance of thy neighbour.]

⁸ Abstain thee from strife, and thou shalt decrease [or lessen], either abridge, (thy) sins. For why a wrathful man kindleth strife;

⁹ and a sinful man, that is, a sower of discords, shall disturb (or shall trouble) friends, and he shall send in enmity in the midst [or in the middle] of men having peace.

¹⁰ For why after the trees of the wood, so fire shall burn on high; and after the might of a man, so his wrathfulness shall be, and after his chattel he shall enhance his ire. [After forsooth the trees of the wood, so the fire burneth; and after the virtue of a man, so the wrath of him shall be, and after his substance he shall enhance his wrath.]

¹¹ Hasty striving shall kindle fire, and hasty chiding shall shed out blood; and a tongue bearing witnessing shall bring death. [An hasted strife shall tend fire, and hasting chiding shed out blood; and a tongue witnessing shall bring to death.]

¹² If thou blowest, as fire it shall burn on high; and if thou spittest thereon, it shall be quenched; ever either, that is, a word kindling ire, and a word refraining it, come forth (out) of the mouth. [If it shall blow, as fire it shall burn; and if thou shalt spit upon it, it shall be quenched; either from the mouth go forth.]

¹³ A privy backbiter, and a double-tongued man, yea, he that speaketh fair before a man, and evil behind him, is cursed; for he disturbed (or troubled) many men having peace. [The whispering grudger (or grumbler), and the twisel tongue (is) cursed; forsooth many having peace he disturbed.]

¹⁴ The third tongue hath stirred many men, and hath scattered them from folk into folk. It hath destroyed walled cities of rich men, and hath mined down (or undermined) the houses of great men. It hath cut down the virtues of peoples, and hath unknit strong folks. [The third tongue many men stirred, and scattered them from folk into folk. Walled cities of rich men it destroyed, and the houses of great men it minded out. The virtues of peoples it hewed down, and strong folks of kind it unknit.]

¹⁵ The third tongue hath cast out wedded, or honest, women, and hath (de)prived them of their travails.

¹⁶ He that beholdeth the third tongue [or Who beholdeth it], shall not have rest; neither shall have a friend, in whom he shall rest.

¹⁷ The wound of beating maketh wanness; but the wound of (the) tongue shall make less the bones. [The wound of a scourge maketh wanness; the wound forsooth of a tongue shall bruise or shall break bones.]

¹⁸ Many men fell down by the sharpness of (the) sword; but not so (many) (or not as many) as they that perished [or died] by their tongue.

¹⁹ He is blessed that is covered from a wicked tongue [Blessful or Blissful that is covered from a shrewd (or a depraved) tongue]; and he that passed not in the wrathfulness thereof, and he that drew not the yoke thereof, and was not bound in the bonds thereof.

²⁰ For why the yoke thereof is an iron yoke, and the bond thereof is a brazen bond.

²¹ The death thereof is the worst death; and hell is more profitable, that is, the pain of hell is less evil, than it.

²² The perseverance thereof shall not dwell, but it shall hold the ways of unjust men; in his flame it shall not burn just men. [The steadfastness of it shall not abide still, but shall hold the ways of unrightwise men; in his flame he shall not burn rightwise men.]

²³ They that forsake God, shall fall into it; and it shall burn greatly in them, and it shall not be quenched; and as a lion it shall be sent into them [or it shall be sent into them as a lion], and as a (leo)pard it shall hurt them.

²⁴ Beset thine ears with thorns, and do not thou hear a wicked tongue; and make thou doors to (or for) thy mouth, and locks to (or for) thine ears. Well thou, or temper thou, thy gold, and thy silver; [Hedge thine ears with thorns, and do thou not hear the shrewd (or depraved) tongue; and to thy mouth make thou doors, and locks to thine ears. Thy gold and thy silver melt together;]

²⁵ and make thou a balance to (or for) thy words, and rightful bridles to (or for) thy mouth. [and to thy words make thou a balance, and right bridles to thy mouth.]

²⁶ And take heed, lest peradventure thou slide in (or with) (the) tongue, and fall in the sight of enemies, setting treason, to (or for) thee, and thy fall be uncurable into death. [And take heed, lest peradventure thou slide in the tongue, and thou fall in the sight of enemies, waiting to thee (or lying in wait for thee), and thy falling be unhealable into death.]