Sirach 19

¹A worker who is a drunkard will not become rich.

He who despises small things will fall little by little.1

²Wine and women will make men of understanding go astray.

He who joins with prostitutes is reckless.

³Decay and worms will have him as their heritage.

A reckless soul will be taken away.

⁴He who is hasty to trust is shallow-hearted.

He who sins offends against his own soul.1

⁵He who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned.

⁶He who hates gossip has less wickedness.

⁷Never repeat what is told you,

and you won’t lose anything.

⁸Whether it is of friend or foe, don’t tell it.

Unless it is a sin to you, don’t reveal it.

⁹For if he has heard you and observed you,

when the time comes, he will hate you.

¹⁰Have you heard something? Let it die with you.

Be brave: it will not make you burst!

¹¹A fool will travail in pain with a word,

as a woman in labor with a child.

¹²As an arrow that sticks in the flesh of the thigh,

so is gossip in a fool.

¹³Question a friend; it may be he didn’t do it.

If he did something, it may be that he may do it no more.

¹⁴Question your neighbor; it may be he didn’t say it.

If he has said it, it may be that he may not say it again.

¹⁵Question a friend; for many times there is slander.

Don’t trust every word.

¹⁶There is one who slips, and not from the heart.

Who is he who hasn’t sinned with his tongue?1

¹⁷Reprove your neighbor before you threaten him;

and give place to the law of the Most High. ¹⁸

²⁰All wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

In all wisdom is the doing of the law. ²¹

²²The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom.

The prudence of sinners is not counsel.

²³There is a wickedness, and it is an abomination.

There is a fool lacking in wisdom.

²⁴Better is one who has little understanding, and fears God,

than one who has much intelligence and transgresses the law.

²⁵There is an exquisite subtlety, and it is unjust.

And there is one who perverts favor to gain a judgment.

²⁶There is one who does wickedly, who hangs down his head with mourning;

but inwardly he is full of deceit,

²⁷bowing down his face, and pretending to be deaf in one ear.

Where he isn’t known, he will take advantage of you.

²⁸And if for lack of power he is hindered from sinning,

if he finds opportunity, he will do mischief.

²⁹A man will be known by his appearance.

One who has understanding will be known by his face when you meet him.

³⁰A man’s attire, grinning laughter,

and the way he walks show what he is.