Sirach 27

¹ For the sake of profit many sin, and the struggle for wealth blinds the eyes.

² Like a peg driven between fitted stones, between buying and selling sin is wedged in.

³ Unless you earnestly hold fast to the fear of the LORD, suddenly your house will be thrown down.

⁴ When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do a man's faults when he speaks.

⁵ As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in his conversation is the test of a man.

⁶ The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does a man's speech disclose the bent of his mind.

⁷ Praise no man before he speaks, for it is then that men are tested.

⁸ If you strive after justice you will attain it, and put it on like a splendid robe.

⁹ Birds nest with their own kind, and fidelity comes to those who live by it.

¹⁰ As a lion crouches in wait for prey, so do sins for evildoers.

¹¹ Ever wise are the discourses of the devout, but the godless man, like the moon, is inconstant.

¹² Limit the time you spend among fools, but frequent the company of thoughtful men.

¹³ The conversation of the wicked is offensive, their laughter is wanton guilt.

¹⁴ Their oath-filled talk makes the hair stand on end, their brawls make one stop one's ears.

¹⁵ Wrangling among the haughty ends in bloodshed, their cursing is painful to hear.

¹⁶ He who betrays a secret cannot be trusted, he will never find an intimate friend.

¹⁷ Cherish your friend, keep faith with him; but if you betray his confidence, follow him not;

¹⁸ For as an enemy might kill a man, you have killed your neighbor's friendship.

¹⁹ Like a bird released from the hand, you have let your friend go and cannot recapture him;

²⁰ Follow him not, for he is far away, he has fled like a gazelle from the trap.

²¹ A wound can be bound up, and an insult forgiven, but he who betrays secrets does hopeless damage.

²² He who has shifty eyes plots mischief and no one can ward him off;

²³ In your presence he uses honeyed talk, and admires your every word, But later he changes his tone and twists your words to your ruin.

²⁴ There is nothing that I hate so much, and the LORD hates him as well.

²⁵ As a stone falls back on him who throws it up, so a blow struck in treachery injures more than one.

²⁶ As he who digs a pit falls into it, and he who lays a snare is caught in it,

²⁷ Whoever does harm will be involved in it without knowing how it came upon him.

²⁸ Mockery and abuse will be the lot of the proud, and vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion.

²⁹ The trap seizes those who rejoice in pitfalls, and pain will consume them before they die;

³⁰ Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.