Sirach 21

Various Sins

²¹Have you sinned, my child? Do so no more,

but ask forgiveness for your past sins.^*

²Flee from sin as from a snake,

for if you approach sin it will bite you.

Its teeth are lion’s teeth

and can destroy human lives.^*

³All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;

there is no healing for the wound it inflicts.

⁴Panic and insolence will waste away riches;

thus the house of the proud will be uprooted.^l

⁵The prayer of the poor goes from their lips to the ears of God,^m

and his judgment comes speedily.^*

⁶Those who hate reproof walk in the sinner’s steps,

but those who fear the Lord repent in their heart.^*

⁷The mighty in speech are widely known;

when they slip, the sensible person knows it.

⁸Those who build their houses with other people’s money

are like those who gather stones for their own burial mounds.^*

⁹An assembly of the lawless is like a bundle of tinder,

and their end is a blazing fire.^*

¹⁰The way of sinners is paved with smooth stones,

but at its end is the pit of Hades.^*

Wisdom and Foolishness

¹¹Those who keep the law control their thoughts,

and the fulfillment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.^*

¹²Those who are not clever cannot be taught,

but there is a cleverness that increases bitterness.^*

¹³The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood

and their counsel like a life-giving spring.^*

¹⁴The mindⁿ of a fool is like a broken jar;

it can hold no knowledge.^*

¹⁵When intelligent people hear a wise saying,

they praise it and add to it;

when fools^o hear it, they laugh at^p it

and throw it behind their backs.^*

¹⁶The chatter^q of fools is like a burden on a journey,

but delight is found in the speech of the intelligent.^*

¹⁷The utterance of sensible people is sought in the assembly,

and they ponder their words in their minds.

¹⁸Like a house in ruins is wisdom to a fool,

and the knowledge of the ignorant is meaningless talk.^*

¹⁹To the senseless, education is fetters on their feet

and like manacles on their right hands.

²⁰Fools raise their voices when they laugh,

but the wise^r smile quietly.^*

²¹To the sensible, education is like a golden ornament

and like a bracelet on the right arm.

²²The foot of a fool rushes into a house,

but an experienced person waits respectfully outside.^*

²³A boor peers into the house from the door,

but a cultivated person remains outside.

²⁴It is ill-mannered for a person to listen at a door;

the discreet would be grieved by the disgrace.

²⁵The lips of babblers speak of what is not their concern,^s

but the words of the prudent are weighed in the balance.^*

²⁶The mind of fools is in their mouth,

but the mouth of the wise is in^t their mind.^*

²⁷When ungodly people curse an adversary,

they curse themselves.^*

²⁸Whisperers degrade themselves

and are hated in their neighborhoods.