Sirach 27:4-7

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴ When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears;
    so does a person’s waste when he speaks.
⁵ The kiln tests the potter’s vessels,
    and the test of a person is in his conversation.^(A)
6 Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree;
    so does speech^[a] the thoughts of the human mind.^(B)
7 Do not praise anyone before he speaks,
    for this is the way people are tested.