Sirach 19

NEW JERUSALEM	STUTTGARTENSIA-DELITZSCH
1 A drunken workman wil never grow rich, and one who makes light of small matters will gradual y sink.
2 Wine and women corrupt intel igent men, the customer of whores loses al sense of shame.
3 Grubs and worms wil have him as their legacy, and the man who knows no shame will lose his life.
4 Being too ready to trust shows shal owness of mind, and sinning harms the sinner.
5 Taking pleasure in evil earns condemnation;
6 by hating gossip one avoids evil.
7 Never repeat what you are told and you wil come to no harm;
8 whether to friend or foe, do not talk about it, unless it would be sinful not to, do not reveal it;
9 you would be heard out, then mistrusted, and in due course you would be hated.
10 Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Courage! It wil not burst you!
11 A fool wil suffer birthpangs over a piece of news, like a woman labouring with child.
12 Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a piece of news inside a fool.
13 Question your friend, he may have done nothing at al ; and if he has done anything, he wil not do itagain.
14 Question your neighbour, he may have said nothing at al ; and if he has said anything, he wil not sayit again.
15 Question your friend, for slander is very common, do not believe al you hear.
16 People sometimes make a slip, without meaning what they say; and which of us has never sinned byspeech?
17 Question your neighbour before you threaten him, and defer to the Law of the Most High.
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20 Wisdom consists entirely in fearing the Lord, and wisdom is entirely constituted by the fulfil ing of theLaw.
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22 Being learned in evil, however, is not wisdom, there is no prudence in the advice of sinners.
23 There is a cleverness that is detestable; whoever has no wisdom is a fool.
24 Better be short of sense and ful of fear, than abound in shrewdness and violate the Law.
25 There is a wickedness which is scrupulous but nonetheless dishonest, and there are those whomisuse kindness to win their case.
26 There is the person who wil walk bowed down with grief, when inwardly this is nothing but deceit:
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.