Sirach 20
20
On speech
1There is a bad time
to rebuke someone.
Those who keep silent
are the prudent ones.
2How much better to investigate
than to be angry!
3And those who confess openly
will be kept from loss.
4Like eunuchs desiring to violate a girl,
so are those who make decisions
by force.
5There are people who are silent
and are found to be wise,
and there are those who are hated
because they talk a lot.
6There are those who keep silent
because they have nothing to say
in response,
and there are those who keep silent
because they know the right time.
7Wise people keep silent
until the proper moment,
but those who swagger and are senseless will miss the right moment.
8Those who talk excessively will be loathed,
and those who pretend
to have authority will be hated.#20.8 LXXb How good it is when someone who is reproved shows a changed heart and mind! In this way, you will escape sinning voluntarily.
9Some people have success
in bad circumstances,
and there’s a windfall that results
in loss.
10There’s a gift that won’t profit you,
and there’s a gift that will bring
twice the return.
11There are losses suffered
for the sake of one’s reputation,
and there are people who have raised
their heads from humiliation.
12There are those who buy a lot for a little,
and they pay for it seven times over.
13Wise people make themselves
dearly loved by means of words,#20.13 Heb a few things
but fools pour out gifts.
14Gifts from senseless people
won’t profit you,#20.14 LXXb adds and neither will the gift of a grudging person who’s forced to give.
because they look for a lot
rather than a little in return.#20.14 LXX for their eyes are many rather than one
15They will give a little and reproach a lot,
and they will open their mouths
like a town crier.
Today they will lend
and tomorrow ask for it back;
such people are hateful.
16Fools say, “I don’t have a friend,
and there’s no gratitude
for my good deeds.”
Those who eat the bread of such people
have mean tongues.
17How many will ridicule them,
and how often?#20.17 LXXb adds They haven’t received what they have with real feeling, and what they don’t have is similarly indifferent to them.
18A slip on the pavement is preferable
to a slip of the tongue;
so the downfall of evil people
will come quickly.
19A disagreeable person, an untimely story—
it will always be
in the mouth of the uneducated.
20Proverbs told by fools will be rejected,
because they’ll never tell them
at their proper time.
21Some are prevented from sinning
because of poverty,
and their conscience won’t be pained
when they rest.
22Some destroy their life through shame,
and they destroy it
because of foolish appearances.
23Some promise a favor to a friend
out of shame,
and they create an enemy for no reason.
24A lie is a bad blemish on a person;
ignorant people tell them incessantly.
25A thief is preferable to someone
who continuously lies,
but both will inherit destruction.
26The character of liars is dishonorable;
their shame is continuously
with them.
Proverbial sayingsl#20.27 The title appears in Gk manuscripts.
27Wise people distinguish themselves
by their words,
and prudent people will please
the powerful.
28Those who work the soil
will pile up their harvest,
and those who please the powerful
will secure reconciliation for injuries.
29Friendly relationships and gifts
will blind the eyes of the wise;
like a muzzle on a mouth,
they turn away reproof.
30Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure—
of what benefit is either?
31Better are those who hide
their foolishness
than those who hide their wisdom.#20.31 LXXb adds 20:32 Better is unmovable endurance when seeking the Lord than a charioteer of one’s life that has no master.
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Sirach 20: CEB
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