Sirach 19

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 A drunken workman wil never grow rich, and one who makes light of small matters will gradual y sink.	1 He who does so grows no richer; he who wastes the little he has will be stripped bare.
2 Wine and women corrupt intel igent men, the customer of whores loses al sense of shame.	2 Wine and women make the mind giddy, and the companion of harlots becomes reckless.
3 Grubs and worms wil have him as their legacy, and the man who knows no shame will lose his life.	3 Rottenness and worms will possess him, for contumacious desire destroys its owner.
4 Being too ready to trust shows shal owness of mind, and sinning harms the sinner.	4 He who lightly trusts in them has no sense, and he who strays after them sins against his own life.
5 Taking pleasure in evil earns condemnation;	5 He who gloats over evil will meet with evil, and he who repeats an evil report has no sense.
6 by hating gossip one avoids evil.	6 Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled.
7 Never repeat what you are told and you wil come to no harm;	7 Tell nothing to friend or foe; if you have a fault, reveal it not,
8 whether to friend or foe, do not talk about it, unless it would be sinful not to, do not reveal it;	8 For he who hears it will hold it against you, and in time become your enemy.
9 you would be heard out, then mistrusted, and in due course you would be hated.	9 Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst.
10 Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Courage! It wil not burst you!	10 When a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child.
11 A fool wil suffer birthpangs over a piece of news, like a woman labouring with child.	11 Like an arrow lodged in a man's thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool.
12 Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a piece of news inside a fool.	12 Admonish your friend--he may not have done it; and if he did, that he may not do it again.
13 Question your friend, he may have done nothing at al ; and if he has done anything, he wil not do itagain.	13 Admonish your neighbor--he may not have said it; and if he did, that he may not say it again.
14 Question your neighbour, he may have said nothing at al ; and if he has said anything, he wil not sayit again.	14 Admonish your friend--often it may be slander; every story you must not believe.
15 Question your friend, for slander is very common, do not believe al you hear.	15 Then, too, a man can slip and not mean it; who has not sinned with his tongue?
16 People sometimes make a slip, without meaning what they say; and which of us has never sinned byspeech?	16 Admonish your neighbor before you break with him; thus will you fulfill the law of the Most High.
17 Question your neighbour before you threaten him, and defer to the Law of the Most High.	17 All wisdom is fear of the LORD; perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the law.
18	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.
20 Wisdom consists entirely in fearing the Lord, and wisdom is entirely constituted by the fulfil ing of theLaw.	20 There are those with little understanding who fear God, and those of great intelligence who violate the law.
21	21 There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest, which by duplicity wins a judgment.
22 Being learned in evil, however, is not wisdom, there is no prudence in the advice of sinners.	22 There is the wicked man who is bowed in grief, but is full of guile within;
23 There is a cleverness that is detestable; whoever has no wisdom is a fool.	23 He bows his head and feigns not to hear, but when not observed, he will take advantage of you:
24 Better be short of sense and ful of fear, than abound in shrewdness and violate the Law.	24 Even though his lack of strength keeps him from sinning, when he finds the opportunity, he will do harm.
25 There is a wickedness which is scrupulous but nonetheless dishonest, and there are those whomisuse kindness to win their case.	25 One can tell a man by his appearance; a wise man is known as such when first met.
26 There is the person who wil walk bowed down with grief, when inwardly this is nothing but deceit:	26 A man's attire, his hearty laughter and his gait, proclaim him for what he is.
27 he hides his face and pretends to be deaf, if he is not unmasked, he wil take advantage of you.
28 There is the person who is prevented from sinning by lack of strength, yet he wil do wrong when hegets the chance.
29 You can tel a person by his appearance, you can tell a thinker by the look on his face.
30 The way a person dresses, the way he laughs, the way he walks, tel you what he is.