【Sirach】Chapter 19 << Last Chapter Next Chapter >>

19:1 He who does so grows no richer; he who wastes the little he has will be stripped bare.

19:2 Wine and women make the mind giddy, and the companion of harlots becomes reckless.

19:4 He who lightly trusts in them has no sense, and he who strays after them sins against his own life.

19:3 Rottenness and worms will possess him, for contumacious desire destroys its owner.

19:5 He who gloats over evil will meet with evil, and he who repeats an evil report has no sense.

19:6 Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled.

19:7 Tell nothing to friend or foe; if you have a fault, reveal it not,

19:8 For he who hears it will hold it against you, and in time become your enemy.

19:9 Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst.

19:10 When a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child.

19:11 Like an arrow lodged in a man’s thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool.

19:12 Admonish your friend ?he may not have done it; and if he did, that he may not do it again.

19:13 Admonish your neighbor ?he may not have said it; and if he did, that he may not say it again.

19:14 Admonish your friend ?often it may be slander; every story you must not believe.

19:15 Then, too, a man can slip and not mean it; who has not sinned with his tongue?

19:16 Admonish your neighbor before you break with him; thus will you fulfill the law of the Most High.

19:17 All wisdom is fear of the LORD; perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the law.

19:18 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom, nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners.

19:19 There is a shrewdness that is detestable, while the simple man may be free from sin.

19:20 There are those with little understanding who fear God, and those of great intelligence who violate the law.

19:21 There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest, which by duplicity wins a judgment.

19:22 There is the wicked man who is bowed in grief, but is full of guile within;

19:23 He bows his head and feigns not to hear, but when not observed, he will take advantage of you:

19:24 Even though his lack of strength keeps him from sinning, when he finds the opportunity, he will do harm.

19:25 One can tell a man by his appearance; a wise man is known as such when first met.

19:26 A man’s attire, his hearty laughter and his gait, proclaim him for what he is.

Fr: To: