Sirach 27
27
1People sin
when they try to get rich,
and they convince themselves
they are not being dishonest.
2But sin is stuck tightly
between buying and selling,
just like a wooden peg
hammered between two stones
in a wall.
3And if you disobey the Lord,
your home#27.3 home: Or “family.”
will soon be destroyed.
4Impurities can easily be seen
after flour is sifted
and after someone speaks.
5The quality of a clay dish
is seen in the heat
of the pottery furnace,
just as our true character
is seen in what we say.
6 #
Mt 7.17; 12.33; Lk 6.44. Fruit shows how much care
a tree has received,
and our words show the care
we have given to our minds.
7So don't start praising people,
until you hear what they say.
8Make fairness your goal;
you will reach it
and receive great honor.
9Just as birds of the same kind
come together in a flock,
people will be honest with you,
if you are honest with them.
10But sin is watching like a lion
and is ready to gobble you up
if you do evil.
11Good people always speak wisely,
but you never can tell
what a fool will say next.
12Don't waste your time
listening to stupid people;
spend it with those
who know how to think.
13It is disgusting to listen to fools
laughing about their sins.
* 14Their cursing and arguing
makes your hair stand on end
and your ears ache.
15But fools are too proud
to stop sinning,
until someone gets hurt.
16 #
Pr 20.19; 25.9. Your friends won't trust you
or like you anymore
if you can't keep a secret.
17If you don't tell their secrets,
your friends will know
that you really like them.
But if you tell their secrets,
they won't want you around,
18and your friendship is as dead
as a soldier
killed by the enemy.
19It is gone for good,
like a captive bird
that has been set free
20or a deer that has escaped
from a trap.
So don't bother trying
to get back that friendship.
21Wounds can be bandaged
and insults forgiven,
but nothing can heal the harm
of telling someone's secret.
22Stay away from those who wink
and plan to deceive others.
23They tell you how great you are
and how well you speak,
but later, they twist your words
to make you look bad.
24I hate people like them
more than anything else,
and even the Lord hates them.
25Striking a friend is the same
as throwing a stone
straight up in the air—
you will be the one
who gets hurt.
26And you will get caught
in traps that you set
to cheat others.
27No one seems to realize
that evil always returns
to the one who does it.
28Proud people insult others,
but revenge will follow them
like a lion stalking a victim.
29When God's people
are in trouble,
those who make fun of them
will die in terrible pain,
like an animal in a trap.
Anger, Revenge, and Forgiveness
30Taking revenge in anger
is disgusting—yet sinners
just won't give it up.
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Sirach 27: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.