Sirach 21

¹My son, have you sinned?

Do it no more;

and ask forgiveness for your past sins.1

²Flee from sin as from the face of a snake;

for if you go near, it will bite you.

Its teeth are like lion’s teeth,

slaying people’s souls.

³All iniquity is as a two-edged sword.

Its stroke has no healing.

⁴Terror and violence will waste away riches.

So the house of an arrogant man will be laid waste.

⁵Supplication from a poor man’s mouth reaches to the ears of God,

and his judgment comes speedily.

⁶One who hates reproof is in the path of the sinner.

He who fears the Lord will repent in his heart.

⁷He who is mighty in tongue is known far away;

but the man of understanding knows when he slips.

⁸He who builds his house with other men’s money

is like one who gathers stones for his own tomb.

⁹The congregation of wicked men is as a bundle of tow

with a flame of fire at the end of them.

¹⁰The way of sinners is paved with stones;

and at the end of it is the pit of Hades.

¹¹He who keeps the law becomes master of its intent.

The fulfilment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.

¹²He who is not clever will not be instructed.

There is a cleverness which makes bitterness abound.

¹³The knowledge of a wise man will be made to abound as a flood,

and his counsel as a fountain of life.

¹⁴The inward parts of a fool are like a broken vessel.

He will hold no knowledge.

¹⁵If a man of knowledge hears a wise word,

he will commend it and add to it.

The wanton man hears it, and it displeases him,

so he throws it away behind his back.

¹⁶The chatter of a fool is like a burden in the way,

but grace will be found on the lips of the wise.

¹⁷The utterance of the prudent man will be sought for in the congregation.

They will ponder his words in their heart.

¹⁸As a house that is destroyed, so is wisdom to a fool.

The knowledge of an unwise man is talk without sense.

¹⁹Instruction is as fetters on the feet of an unwise man,

and as manacles on the right hand.

²⁰A fool lifts up his voice with laughter,

but a clever man smiles quietly.

²¹Instruction is to a prudent man as an ornament of gold,

and as a bracelet upon his right arm.

²²The foot of a fool rushes into a house,

but a man of experience will be ashamed of entering.

²³A foolish man peers into the door of a house,

but a man who is instructed will stand outside.

²⁴It is rude for someone to listen at a door,

but a prudent person will be grieved with the disgrace.

²⁵The lips of strangers will be grieved at these things,

but the words of prudent men will be weighed in the balance.

²⁶The heart of fools is in their mouth,

but the mouth of wise men is their heart.

²⁷When the ungodly curses an adversary,

he curses his own soul.

²⁸A whisperer defiles his own soul,

and will be hated wherever he travels.