Scrutatio

Venerdi, 29 marzo 2024 - Santi Simplicio e Costantino ( Letture di oggi)

Sirach 19


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1He who does so grows no richer; he who wastes the little he has will be stripped bare.2Wine and women make the mind giddy, and the companion of harlots becomes reckless.3Rottenness and worms will possess him, for contumacious desire destroys its owner.4He who lightly trusts in them has no sense, and he who strays after them sins against his own life.5He who gloats over evil will meet with evil, and he who repeats an evil report has no sense.6Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled.7Tell nothing to friend or foe; if you have a fault, reveal it not,8For he who hears it will hold it against you, and in time become your enemy.9Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst.10When a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child.11Like an arrow lodged in a man's thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool.12Admonish your friend--he may not have done it; and if he did, that he may not do it again.13Admonish your neighbor--he may not have said it; and if he did, that he may not say it again.14Admonish your friend--often it may be slander; every story you must not believe.15Then, too, a man can slip and not mean it; who has not sinned with his tongue?16Admonish your neighbor before you break with him; thus will you fulfill the law of the Most High.17All wisdom is fear of the LORD; perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the law.18The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom, nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners.19There is a shrewdness that is detestable, while the simple man may be free from sin.20There are those with little understanding who fear God, and those of great intelligence who violate the law.21There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest, which by duplicity wins a judgment.22There is the wicked man who is bowed in grief, but is full of guile within;23He bows his head and feigns not to hear, but when not observed, he will take advantage of you:24Even though his lack of strength keeps him from sinning, when he finds the opportunity, he will do harm.25One can tell a man by his appearance; a wise man is known as such when first met.26A man's attire, his hearty laughter and his gait, proclaim him for what he is.