Sirach 19:4-12

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁴ One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,
    and one who sins does wrong to himself.
⁵ One who rejoices in wickedness^[a] will be condemned,^[b]
6     but one who hates gossip has less evil.
⁷ Never repeat a conversation,
    and you will lose nothing at all.
⁸ With friend or foe do not report it,
    and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;
⁹ for someone may have heard you and watched you,
    and in time will hate you.
¹⁰ Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
    Be brave, it will not make you burst!
¹¹ Having heard something, the fool suffers birth pangs
    like a woman in labor with a child.
¹² Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,
    so is gossip inside a fool.