SIRACH 22

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¹A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled; And every one will hiss him out in his disgrace.

²A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill: Every man that taketh it up will shake out his hand.

³A father hath shame in having begotten an uninstructed son; And a foolish daughter is born to his loss.

⁴A prudent daughter shall inherit a husband of her own; And she that bringeth shame is the grief of him that begat her.

⁵She that is bold bringeth shame upon father and husband; And she shall be despised of them both.

⁶Unseasonable discourse is as music in mourning; But stripes and correction are wisdom at every season.

⁷He that teacheth a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd together; Even as one that waketh a sleeper out of a deep sleep.

⁸He that discourseth to a fool is as one discoursing to a man that slumbereth; And at the end he will say, What is it?

¹¹Weep for the dead, for light hath failed him; And weep for a fool, for understanding hath failed him: Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he hath found rest; But the life of the fool is worse than death.

¹²Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead; But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.

¹³Talk not much with a foolish man, And go not to one that hath no understanding: Beware of him, lest thou have trouble; And so thou shalt not be defiled in his onslaught: Turn aside from him, and thou shalt find rest; And so thou shalt not be wearied in his madness.

¹⁴What shall be heavier than lead? And what is the name thereof, but a fool?

¹⁵Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, Than a man without understanding.

¹⁶Timber girt and bound into a building shall not be loosed with shaking: So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel shall not be afraid.

¹⁷A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding Is as an ornament of plaister on a polished wall.

¹⁸Pales set on a high place will not stand against the wind: So a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear.

¹⁹He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall; And he that pricketh the heart maketh it to shew feeling.

²⁰Whoso casteth a stone at birds frayeth them away; And he that upbraideth a friend will dissolve friendship.

²¹If thou hast drawn a sword against a friend, despair not; For there may be a returning.

²²If thou hast opened thy mouth against a friend, fear not; For there may be a reconciling; Except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow: For these things every friend will flee.

²³Gain trust with thy neighbour in his poverty, That in his prosperity thou mayest have gladness: Abide stedfast unto him in the time of his affliction, That thou mayest be heir with him in his inheritance.

²⁴Before fire is the vapour and smoke of a furnace; So revilings before bloodshed.

²⁵I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend; And I will not hide myself from his face:

²⁶And if any evil happen unto me because of him, Every one that heareth it will beware of him.

²⁷Who shall set a watch over my mouth, And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, That I fall not from it, and that my tongue destroy me not?